The Girl who Saw Ghosts
by TheTurneyvore
Summary: Ichiko Kurosaki has been able to see ghosts shince she was a little girl, but this ability doesn't change her life nearly as much as her close encounter with Rukio Kuchiki, a Shinigami and member of the mysterious Soul Society. Genderbender!AU, Fem!IchiXM!Ruki and other pairings, Rated M for language, violence and implications.
1. Death and Strawberry

A/N: About a year ago, I made an account under the name TheTurneyvore. I started two stories and started to integrate myself into the FanFiction community. Unfortunately, real life got in the way. For reasons I don't care to discuss, I wasn't able to keep up with those stories and didn't feel like visiting this website much. Anyways, my life has quieted down enough that I feel comfortable in attempting to restart one of the stories that I started writing. It's been about a long time since I've tried to write anything like this and I've changed as a person, so the style may be different from the original. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things.

**So, hi :D I'm TheTurneyvore, obviously. I got the urge to write this after looking at some**_**stunning**___**GB art over on the good ol' DA and I couldn't resist, lol. I spent all of a beautiful,sunny afternoon cooped up inside rewriting the first few chapters of Bleach from Fem!Ichi's perspective. There are also a bunch of other gender switches too but**_**not**___**everybody. Isshin is still the ol' goat-faced Isshin we all love :D Although I guess the punks who knocked over the flowers and Fishbone D are the only other characters that get to keep their original parts. So I guess I should say that, I'm moderately pleased with the results of this afternoon :D The story sticks to canon pretty much exactly except for some of the things people say and their relationships with each other. And by relationships with each other, I mean IchiRuki... duh.**

**Anyways, I don't own Bleach. Just in case any of you thought I did.**

**Storytime :D**

_There's a river inside all of us, baby girl. For some it's just a trickle and for others a great crashing waterfall. What you've got, Ichiko, is a flood. You remember last spring when we had all that rain, right? How the Karasu swelled up so big and you almost fell in? Your river is like that but a thousand times bigger. It'll sweep you away if you let. No. No. Don't cry baby girl. I know it's scary but you've gotta be strong now. Strong for Karin and Yuzu… and for Mom too. Mom wouldn't want you to be afraid. But it's not as a bad as it sounds. Baby girl, I want you to meet someone. He's gonna help us with your little problem…_

Even if anyone walking the darkened streets below him had bothered to look up, they wouldn't have seen him. The tall boy stood on seemingly thin air, contemplating the sleeping city with deep violet eyes. Slight night breezes shifted the black Shihakusho draped over his lanky frame. A black butterfly, larger than most of its earthly kin, drifted lazily around his head. Something suddenly drew the boy's attention and his gaze snapped towards something only he could see lurking in the town below him. A moment later his focus dissipated and the boy sighed.

"Gone again… What the hell is emitting this strange spiritual pressure?" The boy spoke softly despite his voice being inaudible to humans. Casting one last quick glance about the panorama spread out beneath him, the boy gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist and dropped down towards the streets below. He landed with a whisper, barely seeming to feel the impact of the ground at all. "No matter, there are more pressing matters for now."

Ichiko Kurosaki had always hated people pointing at her. It just rubbed her the wrong way. Bad things happened to people who rubbed Ichiko wrong, very bad things.

The squash-faced punk thrust an accusatory finger at Ichiko and screeched, "What the hell is wrong you, bitch?! You just appear outta nowhere and kick over Yama-bro! Now you're tellin' us to get outta _our _turf? That ain't happenin', sweetcheeks. See me and my boys are gonna-"

"You're pointing at me." A vein popped in Ichiko's forehead. The squash-faced punk seemed surprised that the tall red-headed girl who had shown up from nowhere had interrupted his terrifying speech instead of cowering and begging for his forgiveness. In fact, she didn't seem scared at all. Furious seemed to a word more suited to describing her demeanor. But that was impossible. No one little girl would stand before him and not be shaking in her boots. The squash-faced punk decided that his eyes must be playing tricks on him. He sneered and opened his mouth to put the uppity bitch in her place.

A swift roundhouse kick to the side of his head shut the squash-faced punk up before he could get off another word. Ichiko's icy brown stare shifted slowly towards the other punks who had taken up residence on the corner.

"T-toshi-bro's d-down, man," one stammered out.

"She's one of _them_, man. One of _them_! I dunno what's going on here but if we fight her, she's gonna straight up kill us! We're dead, man! Dead!" One sputtered, barely coherent.

The third just let out a high-pitched squeal of terror. The three looked ready to bolt but afraid to move. If they moved so much as an inch, the crazy redhead might suddenly attack. Ichiko took all doubt out of the situation and suddenly attacked. The straight kick she snapped into the squealer's solar plexus sent him flying off his feet. "Geez," Ichiko complained as she stalked towards the two remaining punks, "squeaky over here might have been even more irritating than Mr. Pointy. The two of you aren't gonna give me any more problems, are you?"

"N-no, ma'am" one managed to say after a few seconds.

Ichiko's fake smile was the most terrible thing he had ever seen. Under most circumstances, Ichiko Kurosaki was considered very attractive, albeit in a frosty way. She was tall with rich brown eyes and a natural tan complexion that was the envy of many of her fellow classmates. Years of sports and martial arts had made Ichiko's body lean and flexible, filled with a coiled power that many secretly found captivating. But when she fought, all of her charms were restasked to a single purpose: scaring the ever-loving shit out of her opponents. The smile seemed to be a flimsy cage holding back a beast of incredible violence.

"First question," Ichiko drawled with mock sweetness, "what is that?"

One of the punks followed Ichiko's eyes. "Ummm… a broken flower vase?" The girl was obviously insane. The punk's estimate of his chances of escaping without at least major concussion dropped into the low teens.

Ichiko's smile cracked a bit at the moronic answer. Of course, it was a vase. Did they think she was blind? The red that had slowly began to tinge the edges of her vision intensified into a ragged crimson. _What you've got, Ichiko, is a flood._ Her father voice spoke clearly in her head, as it always did when the rage started to come on. _But it's not as bad as it sounds…_ The old words calmed her and the fog of anger receded. Her freezing smile returned intact "Could you be a little more specific, please. Why is the vase here?"

The punk, who had been silent up to that point piped up, excited to know the answer, perhaps assuming that it would save him. "They were an offering to the kid who got wacked here!" He smiled smugly.

"Great answer!" Ichiko closed the distance between them, faster than the eye could follow. Her entire body's weight and eleven years of rigorous martial arts experience went behind the punch she leveled into his jaw. Against such force, the human skeletal structure wasn't really much of an obstacle. The smug smile twisted grotesquely as his jaw shatter. The mockery of a grin stayed on the punk's face as he hit the asphalt, already unconscious as he fell.

Thug three had wet himself. Ichiko hid her disgust and turned to him with grim purpose obvious in her eyes. "Last question, friend," Ichiko drawled, "Why is the vase knocked over?" Of course, she knew the answer. She had watched this one knocked it over with his skateboard. She had watched the others laughing. But she wanted him to say it. She wanted him to know what he had done and why he was being punished. Otherwise, how would he learn?

Okay… so maybe Ichiko wasn't _completely _calm but the most important part was coming up and she needed control for it to work. Ichiko barely heard the punk's stammering confession as she marshaled her rage. _What you've got inside of you, Ichiko, is a flood. _It was as hard as always. Exactly like the blond man had explained it would be all that time ago. It was like changing the course of a raging river with her bare hands. But Ichiko had plenty of practice and her hands were strong. The furious energy swarmed around her, straining against it but under control.

As the punk finished, Ichiko expelled it, channeling it towards the spirit of the little boy who was hovering nearby. The force suffused his body and, for a moment, he was visible to everyone. Horror movies have nothing on the real thing. The ghost was a small child in her elementary school uniform. Her fine blonde hair was styled into twin pig tails that could only look good on the very young but are sometimes attempted by the very slutty. Her single big brown eye stared balefully at the assembled punks, the too-dark bags under it corrupting the innocence that had once shone there into something terrifying. Worst of all, the little girl's entire form was awash in fresh, crimson blood. It pumped down from an injury concealed by her fringe of hair and obscured half of her once-pretty face. Carmine red dripped down her cheek and chin, staining her uniform with lurid gore. It was too much for him to handle. The remaining teen screeched and fainted. Ichiko felt slightly disappointed that her foot hadn't been needed to put her last adversary to sleep.

"You really don't think they'll come around here anymore?"

"I'm positive, kid," Ichiko reassured the ghost as she propped the limp punks against a nearby wall. She wasn't going to leave them where some innocent bystander could trip over them. That would be a public danger. Ichiko turned to the little dead boy who was floating inches behind her and gave him a genuine smile. The ghost smiled back, still cute despite the wounds. "The way you scared 'em, they're never coming back."

The ghost giggled happily, "I didn't do nothin'! You were the one who beat 'em up for me!"

"Yeah, well you were really good at doing nothing, sweetie." Ichiko wiped off her hands on her jeans and stood up. She reached out and ruffled the boy's blood-matted hair. Anyone watching would have seen a tall redhead talking to no one and petting thin air but Ichiko was far past the point of caring what other people thought about her. Sometimes it crossed her mind that she was better at dealing with the dead than the living but she really tried not to think about it that much. "I'll bring you some new flowers tomorrow, okay? But you gotta promise me that you'll try and go to heaven right after that, okay?"

The ghost screwed up his face and thought about it for a moment. After what seemed like fairly intense deliberation the spirit finally responded, "Okay, I'll try! But you'll definitely bring me those flowers, right?"

Ichiko smiled at the little dead boy, "I definitely will." Why couldn't the living be this easy to please? The dead were mostly easy to understand. All they ever wanted was a little peace and respect or someone to listen to their stories once and a while. What was it about a beating heart that made everyone go crazy? Ichiko suddenly noticed the setting sun bathing the skyline in crimson. _Crap, I'm late, _Ichiko realized,_ Speaking of crazy, dad is gonna shit bricks at me missing curfew. Again. _Patting the spirit's head one last time, Ichiko turned towards home.

Home for Ichiko Kurosaki was the neighborhood clinic which bore her family name. Home was also pretty much a war zone. From the outside, the Kurosaki Clinic looked normal. It was a large three story building painted white with a green roof. The front had two entrances, one for patients and one for the family. Ichiko cautiously approached the family entrance. With excruciating care, she turned the handle and peeked her spiky orange head inside.

All was suspiciously quiet. Goat-Chin's distinctive shouting was conspicuously absent. If her dangerously unstable father was unaccounted for, that could only mean one thing: he was positioning for ambush. Ichiko eased herself into the forier and checked her blind spots. To her right, the closet where the family hung their coats was empty. No one was hiding behind the large potted plant to her left. Directly ahead of her, Ichiko could see into the kitchen where Karin and Yuzu, her two younger brothers, were eating dinner. Noticing his older sister's presence, Yuzu looked up and waved happily. Tentatively, still wary of ambush, Ichiko waved back.

There were two empty places at the table, Ichiko noticed. _Did Goat-Chin not come home today? _Ichiko wondered as she began to take off her shoes. _Probably not, _she decided, _it's weird enough when he leaves the house at all. Hell would freeze over before he stayed away from this place for a whole day. He's gotta be around here somewhere… hiding… waiting for me to… _a realization struck Ichiko. She had checked every direction. Every direction but one: Up.

For a man in his mid-forties, Isshin Kurosaki was extremely fit. Despite the fact that his children almost never saw him leave the house, let alone use the gym, Isshin retained the physique of a much younger man. His limbs were thick and strong. Not even his hair had begun to show signs of greying. In fact, Isshin was still athletic enough to suspend himself against the ceiling using the strength of his arms alone. As their eyes met, Isshin dropped like a vast, unshaven spider descending on its prey. "YOU'RE LATE!" He roared as he dropped on top of his hapless daughter.

Ichiko had no time to dodge. Goat-Chin crashed on top of her, sending them both to the ground. Her father was up in a moment, fists self-righteously planted on his hips and shouting at his daughter. "What time do you think it is, errant wench? You know that dinner is at 7PM sharp every night!"

Ichiko snapped back up to her feat almost as fast as her father had. She rammed an indignant finger into his breastbone. Admittedly, locking foreheads with her bat-shit crazy parental unit would have been more impressive but Ichiko still needed to grow a few inches before would be capable of doing that. And she was damn angry. "What the fuck, Goat-Chin?!" She roared up at him, "You can't hit a girl! Especially not one who also happens to be your daughter?! And _definitely _not when she just happens to be coming back from a damn exorcism!"

"Silence!" her father roared, completely ignoring everything Ichiko said and completely substituting his own reality. It was a skill Isshin Kurosaki had mastered long ago. His version of Ichiko seemed to have a tendency to stay out late snogging vagrants. "I don't care how many strangers you've been playing tonsil hockey with!" Isshin declared with his typical level of rationality. "The rules of this house are iron-clad! There is one punishment for those who dare to disturb the harmony of this sacred domain! The punishment of blood!"

Ichiko knew what this was all really about and it just made her all that much madder. _How the hell did I come out of this overgrown child? _"You're just jealous that you can't see ghosts like me, old man!" Ichiko roared back. She punched him in his scraggly face too; just to make extra sure she got her point across. Still convinced that she had articulated herself fully, Ichiko continued, "C'mon admit it, Goat-Chin you wish you were _special_ like your kids"

"Am not!" Isshin exclaimed actually responding to what Ichiko had actually said for once. The spark of lucidity only lasted for a moment. As if he had had a sudden revelation, Isshin gasped. "My daughter is taking lovers from the spirit realm now?" Ichiko's father accused. "Bleed for the shame you bring upon this house!"

"Stop it!" Yuzu shouted at his father and big sister who were wrestling violently on the welcome, seemingly trying their hardest to pull each other's heads off. Seeing that his shouting had failed to even momentarily distract the embattled pair, Yuzu switched to a different tactic. "Come on," he pleaded," the food is getting cold!" He waved his spoon ineffectively at the last two bowls of rapidly cooling noodles set out on the table.

"Leave 'em, Yuzu. They've never listened to reason before." Said his dark-haired brother. Where Yuzu was small and fair, his twin brother Karin was large, at least for a boy of ten, and dark. Much like their appearances, Karin and Yuzu's personalities were like night and day. The raven-haired twin leaned over and snatched up his father's unattended bowl from across the table. Promptly he began to drain it of its contents.

In the forier, Ichiko seemed to have prevailed over her father. She stood over him, one foot pressing down on his crossed wrists which she'd somehow managed to get behind his back. She pointed an enraged finger down at the struggling man trapped underneath her small foot. "First off, Goat-Chin, you got some weird ideas about what a girl can and cannot do! Where do you get off, setting my curfew at 7 P.M.? That's barely even enough time to walk home from karate! I'm a high schooler, ya know? I need a damn social life!"

"Ichiko," came Yuzu's timid voice from the kitchen. Ichiko's blonde, apron-wearing little brother had a spoon in one hand and was pointing at something with the other. "You've got a new ghost haunting you, Onee-san." Yuzu's voice turned conspiratorial and he whispered as if that would prevent the ghost from hearing it, "He looks like a real creeper."

Ichiko's angry tirade was completely rail-roaded. Silently, Ichiko prayed that, when she looked, there would be nothing there. She had had more than enough excitement for today. All Ichiko wanted was scarf down whatever Yuzu had made for dinner in a distinctly unladylike manner then stomp upstairs and take a long bath. Ichiko crossed her fingers and turned to look over her shoulder. Ichiko's was beginning to get the impression that the universal had a personal interest in ignoring her prayers. A sweaty office-drone type with thick glasses and stress lines was hovering just over Ichiko's shoulder, obviously trying to get a glimpse down the top of orange-haired girl's strawberry print blouse. Even less attractively, his gaping chest wound was dripping blood all over her front. _As soon as I ditch this creep, _Ichiko resolved, _nothing is gonna get between me and that bath…_

The vein that had been slowly pulsing in Ichiko's forehead was threatening to burst. Like it always did when she got angry enough, her father's mantra began to sound in the back of her head. Ichiko had had enough of her father's voice for one night and she immediately blocked it out. As soon as she did, something invisible she couldn't quite describe began to trickle out of her. Ichiko ignored the sensation, choosing to focus on the current situation instead.

Across town, the tall boy froze. Every one of his spiritual senses seemed to be on fire. Something had entered the Living World. Something enormously powerful, terrifyingly so. Even though he was no expert in Reiatsu Telelocation, anything with even the slightest dribble of sensitivity would have been able to find their way to the source of the disturbance. As easy as finding a stab wound.

The boy hesitated for a moment. He'd been on his quarry's trail for the past few hours and breaking off pursuit now would set him back greatly. It might even cost a few innocents their lives… still whatever the source of the newly appeared spiritual pressure was it was far more powerful than what he had been chasing before. If left unchecked, it could surely cause a great deal more damage. Besides, with a flare that powerful, it was a safe bet that his prey would also be drawn there as well. _Fell two foes with one stroke, _the boy gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, _let's just hope we're up for it, Kama._

"I get rid of perverts like this again and again," she shouted as she swatted at the ghost who was floating obnoxiously just out of reach, "but they keep coming back!" Ichiko leapt into the air and finally managed to connect with the ghost. Her fist landed right in the center of his sweaty face, shattering his glasses. The force of the blow sent the spirit careening towards the kitchen wall and then straight through. Ichiko couldn't decide whether to be glad that she had finally gotten rid of the spirit or frustrated that she no longer had a convenient outlet to vent her frustrations on. Choosing neither, Ichiko made a noise halfway between a sigh and a growl. "Be grateful that neither of you have to deal with crap like this, kidlets," Ichiko told the twins, definitely not sounding even a little bit bitter.

"Oh, cry me a river," Karin grumbled from his place at the table. He had just finished Isshin's noodles and was now starting in on Ichiko's. "Ghosts aren't even real," her brother declared with as little emotional inflection as possible. "Everybody knows that."

"But you can see them, Karin!" Yuzu protested, wiping his hands on his apron, "Dad's the only one who can't see anything, right? How can you not believe in something you can see?"

Karin gave his effeminate brother a frosty look, "They. Don't. Exist." He ground out, "End of conversation." Yuzu shook at little bit.

As the twins bickered, Ichiko had been making her way towards the table. She plopped down unceremoniously into her usual seat. Ichiko was in a rather foul mood. That was hardly unusual. The pleasant glow that she'd gotten from wrecking the idiots and helping out the little boy's spirit had been squelched the second her father attacked her. And after the ugly lunatic had opened his mouth, Ichiko's scowl had decided it just might take up permanent residence on her rather pretty face. Noticing that there was no longer a bowl full of noodles in front of her place at the table was doing nothing to improve her mood. "Where's my food you little turds?" Ichiko growled at the twins. Yuzu's shaking increased.

"I'm eating it," Karin said calmly, not even bothering to look up from Ichiko's bowl as he slurped down noodles. "So you don't get fat," the pre-teen explained unnecessarily. Not that there was really any danger of that. Any fat that dared to stick to Ichiko's frame was quickly burnt off by three hours of karate every night with her best friend, Tatsuki. How Ichiko managed to have any boobs at all was a mystery to everyone who bothered to think about it.

Whatever furious response the orange-haired high schooler was about to spit out was cut short by her father's cry of "AN OPENING!" On the edge of her vision, Ichiko caught a glimpse of her father careening wildly through the air towards her. The orange-haired girl was in no mood to play around. There was a reason the flying body check wasn't a popular move in any widely accepted martial art and beside, Ichiko had already been caught off guard by the technique once that day. This time she was ready for it. Ichiko grabbed her father's wrist and twisted, redirecting his flight path with one fluid motion Isshin Kurosaki slammed face-first onto the dinner table, crushing several plates and bowls under his bulk. Ichiko leaned over the prone, groaning form of her father. "Looks like you let Karin eat my dinner, Goat-Chin. So what do you say I carve some steaks out of you, huh?" She hissed in his ear.

"My daughter is threatening to kill me," Isshin sniffed happily, "she has finally become a woman. Masaki, you would be so proud…"

Disgusted, Ichiko got up from the table, "Aw, I forgot, you'd taste crazy. No way would anyone want to eat that. I'm going to bed." And with that, Ichiko stomped up to her room and slammed the door.

"Did I say something?" Isshin asked in a perplexed tone from his position on top of the dinner table. No one bothered to respond.

Ichiko lay on top of her bed and stared at the wall. She had calmed down significantly over the past few minutes. The weird trickling sensation had stop but calm wasn't a word that could be used to describe Ichiko. The temptation to call Tatsuki and vent all of her troubles was building in Ichiko's chest but that was something Ichiko would only ever do as a last resort. Tatsuki had been Ichiko's best friend and sparring partner since they were four years old. Still, Tatsuki had never exactly been described as an overflowing font of sympathy and sharing her feeling with Tatsuki was likely to be just as therapeutic as sharing them with the wall. Which was exactly what Ichiko had elected to do.

"Stupid dad…" she growled at the wallpaper. In response, the wall spat out a black swallowtail butterfly. Ichiko sat up in her bed. "What the hell-" Ichiko began to whisper incredulously but what came through the wall next stopped the rest of her sentence in its tracks.

At five feet and eleven inches, Ichiko was taller than a lot of boys she knew. The boy who walked through the wall and into Ichiko bedroom did not fall into this category. Ichiko didn't bother to figure out his exact height it was obviously well over six feet. Another thing about the stranger: he was absolutely gorgeous. Silky midnight-black hair brushed his shoulders and a single strand hung down across his forehead and between his deep, vibrant violet eyes. Strangely, he was dressed in a black warrior's kimono. Despite the heavy garb, Ichiko could tell by the way the boy held himself that he was both physically fir and a trained fighter. But the strangest thing about the boy's appearance, beside the fact that he was there at all, was the _sword _hanging from the expertly tied around his waist.

Ichiko could do nothing but stare at the stranger as if in a trance. Conversely, he seemed completely disinterested in her. His eyes scanned the room, obviously looking for something. A confused, slightly frustrated look spread across his regally handsome face. "I swear it was here but a moment ago…" The words tore Ichiko from her hypnosis. Ichiko didn't understand how he had walked through the wall but he was an adolescent male who had snuck into her room. She always dealt with those the same way: violence.

"I didn't go anywhere, you perverted bastard! I'm right here!" she roared as she kicked the kimono-wearing freak directly in his unprotected ass. With a startled squawk, the boy tumbled off his feet and face-planted into the floor. Ichiko jabbed a furious finger at his sprawled form, oblivious to the completely baffled expression that twisted across his face. "I'm not an 'it' either, retard! I'm a hell of a lot more of a girl than you can handle! Even if you are freakishly tall!"

In familiar fashion, most of when Ichiko said to the boy went completely ignored. The confused look stayed rooted on his face as she collected himself into a seated position. However Ichiko seemed to have gotten his attention because his violet gaze locked directly on her the moment that he was composed again. His eyes were bold, staring at Ichiko and assessing her like she didn't know he was watching. Ichiko just glared back. It seemed to take him a moment, but the boy finally realized that Ichiko's glare and furious tirade directed at him. "Y-you can see me?" he sputtered. "I mean, d-did you just kick me?"

"Hell yeah, I kicked you! What? You thought you were just gonna come in here, do perverted shit and leave without anyone noticing? Pick your victims better next time, asshole because I'm about to do a lot more than kick you…" Ichiko growled at the intruder and stalked towards him menacing. What she had done to the punks earlier that day was nothing compared to what Ichiko was planning for this misfortunate soul.

Fortunately, Ichiko planned ultra-violence was interrupted by the timely appearance of her father. "Who's in here with you?" Isshin Kurosaki yelled as he hurtled through the air to plant both his knees in his daughter back. How he had managed to get into the room without Ichiko noticing was a mystery. However solving mysteries was usually lower in Ichiko's order of priorities to defending herself from her dearest father's surprise assaults. The pair of them crashed to the floor but this time Ichiko was up first. She hammered a swift kick across her father's rising face. Isshin groaned and tried to collapse but Ichiko grabbed him by his lapels and dragged him to his feet.

"You blind, dad?" Ichiko yelled at her father. How he had managed to miss the presence of the boy was strange but Ichiko didn't have time to think about it. She had important shouting to do. "You must be losing your eyesight cause the pervert who snuck into my room is sitting right there!" Ichiko jerked her chin towards were the dark haired boy was sitting.

Isshin followed his daughter's gesture but his eyes passed over where the intruder was sitting without even a passing spark of recognition. Ichiko's grip loosened. _If dad can't see him but I can, that must mean he's a… _Taking the slack in Ichiko's deathgrip as his cue to leave, Isshin pulled free and started towards the door. "Doing such dirty thing by yourself… you truly bring shame upon this family, daughter" Isshin lamented just loudly enough for Ichiko to hear him as he disappeared from view.

"I'm not doing anything dirty, damn it" Ichiko shouted out the door if her father heard there was no response. Angrily, Ichiko whirled on the kimono-dressed freak to find that he had repositioned himself and was now sitting on her bed. "Look, spirit" she ground out, trying her hardest to be reasonable and keep her emotions in check, "I'm really not in the mood to deal with this right now. If you come back tomorrow, I can exorcise you then."

The boy sitting on her bed made a noise that couldn't decide if it was amused or offended by Ichiko's comment. "A human exorcise a Shinigami? Please? That you can see me at all is extraordinary for a human but a banishing is fundamentally beyond your species' capabilities. But since you can see us, there are a few things you should probably know…"

Ichiko sat on the edge of her desk, glaring at the tall dark boy who seemed to have declared her bed as his territory. Ichiko's arms were crossed defensively under her chest. The boy had one hand on the hilt of his katana, obviously ready to draw if Ichiko attacked again; something the tall redhead had considered doing several times over the past few minutes. Her fiery brown gaze clashed with his icy violet one for a solid minute. Finally, Ichiko broke the silence that had followed the stranger's so-called explanation. "Let me get this straight, pervert, you're a shinigami, a god of death. You came from a place called 'Soul Society' and you're here to exterminate an evil spirit… I think you forgot one part of your story, though."

The boy's level gaze became slightly confused. He cocked his head slightly to one side and frowned a little. Under any other circumstances, Ichiko would have found this _extremely _attractive but instead it just seemed irritating, "Really? I don't think I forgot anything…" he mused before Ichiko cut him off.

"You forgot the part where you're a perverted spirit that gets off by sneaking into girl's rooms and watching them sleep! Like I'd believe this 'shinigami' crap!" Ichiko yelled and she chucked her alarm clock that the kimono-wearing stranger's head. Without changing the incredulous look on his face, he snagged the flying object out the air easily.

"You can see ghosts but refuse to accept the existence of shinigami?" he asked as if believing in one and not the other seemed like the most improbable notion possible. The condescending tone made Ichiko want to beat him into a bloody pulp. She settled for articulating her opinion on the issue by chucking a paperweight at the dark-haired boy's head. The second projectile met with the same amount of success as the first. The boy's hand shot out like a whip and grabbed it from the air. _Third time's the charm, _Ichiko thought dryly as she threw a stapler. The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment, with both hands full, catching the stapler was impossible. A look of consternation crossed his face moments before the stapler crossed it as well.

"Enough!" he kimono-wearing intruder spoke, "foolish girl, you will cease throwing objects at me immediately!" Something Ichiko couldn't really describe rose up into her awareness as the boy raged. She could somehow feel a complex pattern of intent and energy weaving itself together before the boy. It felt familiar yet somehow totally alien. Ichiko might have tried to study it further but the boy made a sign with his hand and pressed into the form flowing before him, shouting "Bakudo #1: Sai!" at the same time.

Something surged from the form and suddenly, a force wrapped around Ichiko's body. The computer mouse she had been prepared to chuck at the "shinigami" dropped from her hands as they were slammed together behind her back. Her knees snapped up to her chest of their own volition and Ichiko toppled off the chair, landing squarely on her face. Surprise at her body's betrayal quickly gave way to anger. "What the hell was that, you kinky bastard?" Ichiko shouted at the stranger indignantly.

The "kinky bastard" smirked and squatted down next to Ichiko. She managed to shrink away a little as he reached for her but all he did was ruffle her hair. "Oooh… poor baby, you can't move can you," he snickered, "this is kidō. An advanced incantation that only shinigami can use. They may not be my specialty but this is more than enough to hold a mere human like you." Ichiko ground her teeth at the word "shinigami" and then again at "mere human." _No way in hell am I ever going to believe a word this creep says, _Ichiko resolved. Regardless of the dirty looks Ichiko hurled his way, the boy continued, "I may not look like it, but I'm ten times older than you are. It isn't polite to throw things at your elders, you little twerp. Usually, I kill people like you, but spiritual law dictates that shinigami cannot execute humans unless they have been ordered to do so. What I can do is seal your movements, twerp. That and…"

Ichiko's brown eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as the tall stranger drew his sword. "Wai-" she shouted but the sword was already descending...

And its hilt struck the forehead of the sweaty office-ghost that had phased up through the floor underneath Ichiko. The ghost looked nearly as surprised by this development as Ichiko herself.

"I-I don't wanna go to hell," he stammered but the kimono-wearing boy cut him off.

"You are not going to hell. Unlike hell, Soul Society is a peaceful realm." And just like that, the spirit was gone, leaving only a black swallowtail butterfly that flitted out through Ichiko's open window.

"Wha-" Ichiko stammered, not quite able to process everything that was happening at once.

"That was a Soul Burial," the boy explained smugly as if he had read the confusion on Ichiko's face. Carefully, he put his katana away before continuing, "As a shinigami, one of my duties is to perform them. You would call it, 'going to heaven.'" He took a look at Ichiko's stubbornly disbelieving face, "but you still don't believe me, do you? Very well, I have illustrations prepared for just this situation. Perhaps these will make it clearer. You look like the type who only reads picture books, anyways." He pulled out a sheaf of the most poorly drawn illustrations Ichiko had ever seen and tossed them on the floor next to the mostly immobile woman.

"There are two kind of spirits, twerp," he began as he crossed his arms over his chest, "The most common type is the plus. They are 'good spirits' for the most part. You humans refer to pluses as 'ghosts.'" Ichiko couldn't be quite sure but she thought that the stranger shivered slightly before continuing, "the other type is the hollow, the 'evil spirits.' They attack and devour the living and the dead indiscriminately. If you see a hollow, run. If you do not, you will die. Any questions, so far?"

"Um… yeah, one. Why do your drawings suck so bad?"

"Hmmm… you're right, of course," the stranger said as he drew a pen from his kimono and scooted closer. "Perhaps I should stick to drawing what I am best at:" he paused for dramatic effect, "mustaches." With two quick strokes a luxuriously curling mustache graced Ichiko's brightly-flushed face.

"What the hell, you creep?" she shouted indignantly, "I knew you were planning on taking advantage of a defenseless woman but this?" Ichiko promptly began to wipe the marker off on the floor. She met with moderate success.

"Humph, I will continue with my explanation if you don't mind, sir" he grinned mischievously and Ichiko bristled but she didn't say anything about the insult. The stranger took that as an invitation to continue, "We shinigami have two duties: to guide pluses to Soul Society and to extinguish hollow. My current mission is the latter."

A thought crossed Ichiko's mind. A thought she didn't like at all. "Wait a minute…" she asked slowly, "does that mean that there's a hollow around here?" _If I can believe him, then hollows indiscriminately eat the living and the dead! Yuzu and Karin are in danger! Oh… and Goat-Chin too, but he isn't as important…_

The tall boy nodded, "Yes, there is one nearby. I should think that was obvious from my presence here. Really, you should learn to pay more attention."

Ichiko wasn't even pretending to pay attention. Panic tinged thoughts raced through her frenzied mind._ Shit! They ARE in danger and I'm lying here like some idiot!_ "Well what are you doing in my room, creep?" Ichiko shouted taking out her impotent rage on the dark-haired youth, "Get out of my house and take care of this thing!"

The boy sniffed and looked away, Ichiko had obviously stumbled upon a topic he'd been trying to keep secret. Instantly, the orange-haired girl's focus was completely on him. In her experience, secrets were usually a very bad thing. And in an already bad situation, secrets were more likely than not going to get someone killed. "You see…" he began hesitantly, "I was tracking something else, and it led me here. The hollow is sure to be after the same thing…" The youth continued but Ichiko got the distinct impression that he was no longer talking to her, "It was just here a moment ago, I could have sworn it was in this very room but there's nothing-"

Whatever the black-clad boy was going to say next was drowned out by a blood-curdling roar. Instinctively, Ichiko knew what it was. It was one of those things that no one has to be told, that is just known. One of those things that the deep, primitive part of you recognizes on every level. As soon as the first piercing note of its shrill roar reached Ichiko's senses, she couldn't mistake it for anything else. It was the desolate, starving cry of a Hollow on the hunt. Both Ichiko and the boy across from her stiffened at the same time. The boy was moving before Ichiko. His violet eyes widened and instantly his sword has in his hand, the light from Ichiko's light fixtures glinting unnaturally off the long, elegant blade. "That was a hollow!" he shouted unaware that Ichiko already knew, "you stay here! I will deal with it!"

Another scream rent the air, this one decided more human. It was Yuzu's scream, sweet little Yuzu who never hurt a fly and was going and win Shin Dotchi someday. The bottom dropped out of Ichiko's stomach. A haze of red descended over her eyes. The mantra began to rise in her consciousness but now was not the time for restrain. Ichiko only had room for two thoughts: _It's already here._ _It's already hurting my family. _That and the roiling sea of anger that was rising within her. The strange combination of sickness and rage flooded her system, driving out all rational thought. Again, Ichiko felt the sensation of something leaving her body. "That's my goddamn family out there!" she screamed at the black-garbed boy. "No way in hell, I'm staying here! Let me out of this damn spell, NOW!"

The stranger stumbled. He looked as if someone had just punched him in the stomach "It's so strong…" he gasped. "How could it have hidden from me…?" Finally, Ichiko's words processed and seemed to give him a new well of determination to draw upon. The boy straightened and shot back, "There's nothing you can do! You'll just be another victim, fool! Stay here until I call!" As the door opened, he felt a wave of force sudden smash into him like he'd been dropped off a low bridge. The spiritual pressure tearing out of the hollow downstairs was absolutely monstrous!

The boy was so overwhelmed that he didn't notice as Ichiko flopped out the door, he also didn't notice the young dark-haired boy who was dragging himself down the hallway, leaving a vivid trail of blood behind him. When he saw Ichiko, a weak smile stretched across his bloody lips. "I-it didn't g-get you yet… that's… good…" His eyes closed and he went limp.

Karin… no… not… Karin… no… no… no… something was snapping in Ichiko. Dimly she heard the shinigami speaking in the background. His words sounded worlds away. It might have been something about Karin's soul still being attached. It was all meaningless. Nothing filled Ichiko's ears but echoes of Karin's last weakening words. Nothing filled her eyes but the sight of his crumpled form. Nothing filled her nose but the scent of her family's blood. And no thoughts filled her mind. None at all, just the wordless need to protect those she held dear. That, and overwhelming rage. A desperate howl tore itself from her throat. The binding holding her still was preventing her from helping her family. It would have to go.

Panic and disbelief filled the shinigami's eyes. The human girl was attempting to break kidō with just a human's power! That would… "Stop it!" he shouted, "It isn't possible for humans to break kidō! If you try your soul will be-" the sound of his kidō shattering interrupted him. Impossible… he barely had time to think before Ichiko had grabbed the bat leaning against the wall and sprinted downstairs.

The shinigami was left staring at empty space. _Who… no, what the hell is this woman?_

The downstairs of the clinic was in ruins but Ichiko really didn't see it. "Yuzu! Goat-chin!" she screamed as she dashed through the debris. There were splashes of blood and chunks of plaster everywhere. A buzzing filled Ichiko's ears but she wasn't quite certain where it was coming from. She spotted her father, bleeding from a gaping wound in his side but Yuzu was more important. Goat-chin could survive just about anything. Yuzu was delicate. Ichiko was not slowing down until her baby brother was safely in her arms.

The thing standing outside a hole torn in the wall of the clinic proved her wrong. Ichiko skidded to a stop. She could do nothing but stare at it. It was… a monster. No other words described it. A hideous amalgam of giant and fish with sickly green, polka dotted skin. Ichiko trembled. She couldn't take a step forward; the sight of the monster froze her in her tracks. It was…

Holding Yuzu's unconscious body in one of its massive, blunt-fingered hands. The trembling stopped. Rational thought stopped. Ichiko charged, swinging the bat with all the considerable speed she could muster.

She wasn't fast enough. The thing's other fist was nearly as big as Ichiko's torso and it smashed into her like a demented freight train. The force sent the orange-hair girl spinning into a wall across the street.

Even though the pain was blinding, she tried to get up. But something was broken and refused Ichiko's commands. And the hollow was coming fast. It's other fist blurring towards Ichiko, carrying bloody death on its pale green knuckles. It was going to squash Ichiko into paste using the very hand that was squeezing the life out of her brother. The irony just made Ichiko want to die.

A black blur sliced into the hollow's forearm, cutting to the bone with a flash of silver. The shinigami had appeared. The hollow howled and released Yuzu. In another blur of speed, he caught the airborne boy and tossed him towards his sister. "Don't lose focus, girl!" he shouted at her, "None of your family has been consumed yet!"

"But why is it here at all?" Ichiko screamed at the shinigami as if he had brought it. For all she knew, he had. His answer, however, was worse than Ichiko had ever imagined was possible.

"It came… because hollows crave spiritual energy. They are attracted to souls that possess it, drawn like moths drawn to a flame... You can see shinigami, you can touch us, your spiritual energy alone can shatter kidō. I was a fool not to realize it before. The spiritual energy I was tracking before was yours... I have never seen nor heard of a human with power such as you. Mostly likely, this hollow came here… to eat you."

"Me?" It came out as no more than a disbelieving breath, "It came because of me?" Ichiko's voice got stronger, more angry, "The reason that my family is teetering on the brink of death… is ME!" Ichiko was shouting now and the shinigami was looking at her, obviously distressed at how his words had been interpreted.

"I did not mean…" he began to protest but the hollow hammered its fist into him. The black-haired warrior was sent flying like a child's discarded toy.

"Me…" Ichiko whispered at the hollow that was slowly stomping towards her, literally licking its lips. Despite the screaming protest of agony from whatever had twisted wrongly in her leg, Ichiko staggered to her feet. She locked eyes with the soulless pits that burnt from behind the hollow's bone-white mask. "You want me, huh you piece of shit! Come and get me! Woman against beast! No one else has anything to do with this!"

The hollow didn't seem to understand her words. Or maybe it did. Either way Ichiko wasn't prepared for what happened next. Without warning the monster's neck stretched, its head sped towards her, jaws gaping wide open, sharp flat teeth aching to dig into Ichiko's flesh. She tried to dodge but her leg twisted out from under her. _It's going to eat me._ Ichiko realized with grim certainty. The thought held no panic, just the regret that she hadn't been able to protect her family. _So this is how it ends. Me, lying in the street with a shatter leg, slowly devoured by a monster. Damn it, this sucks._

For the second time that night, a black blur threw itself in front of Ichiko. Silver flashed, but it wasn't enough. Jaws closed over the tall boy's black clad form. Blood splashed Ichiko's face; its coppery tang invaded her mouth. The hollow reared back at the unexpected intervention, shaking its head and roaring.

The shinigami lay bleeding out on the ground scant feet away. "Idiot," he groaned through bloody, gritted teeth, "you don't have the power to fight it and now, neither do I. All that's left for us… is to become that thing's food…"

A single tear rolled down Ichiko's blood stained cheek. It wasn't all the things that Ichiko had never done which lay heavy on her heart. In those moments, Ichiko spared no thought for all the things she never had the chance to do. She didn't fight against the tide of darkness that was rising in the corners of her vision because she feared what the shadows would bring. Ichiko Kurosaki didn't struggle to her feet in defiance of the cruel hand destiny had dealt her. _Karin… Yuzu… I won't let you die like this…_

The shinigami watched the drop trail down the girls face. _She really is beautiful_, he thought sadly. Then, _am I really considering doing this to her?_ One look at her face told him everything he needed to know. Though she was crying the steel had not gone from her eyes. The determination that lay within those rich chocolate orbs was so deep it might not have any bottom. Even if the hollow tore all the limbs from her body, the shinigami knew that the girl would die trying to kill it with her teeth.

"There's a way for you to save your family."

"Tell me," was all Ichiko growled. There was no hesitation.

"I will transfer half of my shinigami powers to you by…"

The orange haired girl laughed bitterly, the momentary hope dying in her eyes, "By kissing me or some fairy tale shit? Even for a perv-"

"By piercing your heart with my zanpakuto." The shinigami finished grimly.

"Oh," Ichiko's eyes narrowed. Somehow, the brutality of the solution seemed right. Or maybe it was just that she would rather die at the hands of this boy who at least appeared human than become food for some grotesque monster. Whatever the reason, Ichiko gripped the tsuba of the black-clad warrior's blade. She stared into his eyes and growled, "Do it, shinigami."

"It's not 'shinigami,' it's Rukio Kuchiki," he said a faint smile ghosting across his blood-stained lips.

"Ichiko Kurosaki," she smiled back. It was not a pretty smile, "just fucking do it already."

As one, they rammed the sword straight through her sternum. The blade tore out the other side.

Ichiko's eyes widened. Nothing had ever hurt like this. Ichiko had led a rough life. She'd been stabbed before. She'd been thrown through walls. Every day for the past eleven years of her life, she sparred for hours with the most brutal woman she'd met. And the sum total of every single scrape, bruise and cut she'd ever received wouldn't come close to the pain that blossomed throughout her entire body at that moment.

It felt like her soul was being torn apart. Like some great clawed hand had grabbed the most personal intimate part of her and was shredding it, twisting it into something foreign and strange. It was worse than being burnt alive. Through the haze of pain, one thought managed to swim to the surface and stick itself in Ichiko rapidly deteriorating consciousness: _It didn't work…_

And then, with a blinding flash of light, the pain stopped. And Ichiko felt wonderful.

Ichiko was standing and everything was clear. The creeping blackness that threatened to consume her was gone. The pain, fear and rage which had suffused her to her very core were gone, replaced by iron conviction. Most importantly, Ichiko simply felt right. It was like her skin had been slightly ill-fitting before and she only noticed it now that she was wearing something more comfortable. _Karin, Yuzu, Goat-Chin… and you too Rukio, I'm here now. There's nothing to fear anymore. _A true smile spread across her lips.

Sensing the appearance of a new opponent, the hollow roared and swung its massive arm. Ichiko watched the limb come at her in slow motion. _Is it really trying to hurt me with that clumsy attack? _Ichiko wondered. Using the hand that wasn't holding her wakizashi, Ichiko stopped the blow and twisted. Gargantuan bones snapped like tissue paper. _Wakizashi? _Ichiko looked down. Sure enough, a red-handled short sword rested in her left hand.

_Where did you come from? _Ichiko asked her sword as she easily flipped over the Hollows sloppy counterattack. In mid-air, Ichiko lashed out with the blade, nearly severing her foe's unbroken arm. The hollow screamed but the sound held no more terror for Ichiko. Ichiko almost felt bad for what she was about to do. Almost. The girl rushed forward.

Rukio stared in disbelief at the orange-haired girl. The shinigami had heard stories of transferring powers to human happening in the past but he'd never really believed them. But even if he had, Rukio could not have imagined they'd be anything like what he was witnessing. The transition was so perfect. The long black shihakusho draped over her lithe body fit perfectly. The blade she wielded, though smaller than most, was indistinguishable from any shinigami's blade.

It was almost enough to convince Rukio that the girl had been a shinigami in disguise all along. But Rukio knew what he'd felt inside her. Of course, there was the vast yet tightly constrained raw spiritual energy roiling inside her which had drawn him to her in the first place but there was something else as well. Something that drunk up the half of his shinigami powers he'd meant to give her then drained him of the rest anyways. Whatever meager energy he'd put inside her, it was nowhere near enough to fill up the great groaning abyss in the girl's soul. Frankly, it terrified him but as he watched her bifurcate the hollow with a single blow, he came to realize something.

It wasn't him that should be worried about the beautiful woman dressed in black before him. The ones who should worry were those who stood in her way.


	2. Starter

**CHAPTER 2 IS HERE! I'm excited! AND continuing the story! *Gasp* Actually, I knew I was going to keep going since the first review came in! Sorry for keeping everyone who reviewed in the dark until now but it takes me a couple of days to write and edit these chapters. Its been a crazy busy week for me so I published an unfinished version of this chapter earlier today and I am deeply ashamed of that mistake. It was poorly edited and extremely awkward. This is take two and far superior in my opinion.**

**Anyways, fair warning about this chapter, it starts off quite dark... if you don't want to read about Ichiko's horrible, horrible dream skip down until you see GOOD MORNING ICHIKO!**

**Enough about me, lets talk about the story! So, this is going to be an extremely thorough retelling of Bleach. I have the manga open next to me when I write this and I'm pretty much going panel by panel. There will, of course, be extra scenes now and then and a few deleted scenes but events will be familiar to say the least. Anyone who is reading this for Fem!IchiXM!Ruki smut you can leave now. There will be romance, yes but Fem!Ichi and M!Ruki are still Ichigo and Rukia at heart. They are not going to leap into bed like a pair of chappies in heat. Their relationship will be slow to develop but it will be there and there will be plenty of moments, I promise you. Don't despair on me, okay :D**

**Shout-outs!**

**Parawhoreanimegirl 11: First reviewer! Yay! Much love to you, m'dear XD I'm glad you think its epic and I'm certainly going to keep going!**

**Selyra: Love for long review XD Oh there's chase scenes a'coming ;) Sadly, I haven't come across any other good IchiRuki GBs :C There's one right here though, if you think my writing is good! About the Fem!IchiXBya challenge, I'm not sure if I'll have time to do that theme the justice it deserves. I always thought of Fem!Ichi as the reincarnation of ******* (name omitted due to plot significance :D). I might do a one-shot or two of them but I don't know if I can get a multi-chapter saga in between everything else that's going on, sorry.**

**My spirits are always with me! Haters are gonna hate, if not I'm doing something terribly wrong!**

**The romantic insanity: I'm so glad you like it! Writing is always hard work but I think anyone can be good at it with practice. The key to a good GB, in my opinion, is to make sure that the character are not just the original wearing different skins but rather their own people (who just happen to be very similar to the originals). Love for implying that I'm good *hugs***

**Curttsies: *Blushes furiously* Y-you think I'm g-good? *Runs off into the bushes and to celebrate, returns several minutes later bleeding but happy* And we're back folks...**

**Sailingseas: I love you too! I love all my reviewers and being loved back makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside XD But don't let me talk anymore! Let's continue the story!**

**Disclaimer: *Yoda voice* This one owns Bleach not.**

Mists coiled up from the soggy peat that squelched underneath Ichigo's sandals. Sepia colorlessness choked the barren landscape. The thing other than shades of grey for as far as Ichigo could see were two smudges on the horizon that were slowly dragging themselves closer. The moist, insidious stench of mold permeated the air, making Ichiko want to gag. A nebulous feeling of dread settled over Ichiko like a vast hand inexorably enveloping her.

_Wait a sec… sandals? I never wear sandals…_Ichiko looked down at herself. _What the hell is this? _Since when did Ichiko Kurosaki wear kimonos? Jeans and a t-shirt were more her style. Apparently someone else had dressed her because a black shihakusho was draped over her body. _Something is seriously not right here… That Rukio guy was wearing something like this when I… wait, where is he? Speaking of which, where am I?_

The orange-haired girl wasn't finding any answers to those questions by inspecting herself. Deciding that her surrounding might yield a little more information about just what the hell was going on and who she should beat up about it, Ichiko took another look around. One second she had been… chopping a monster in half. With a preternaturally sharp wakizashi that had appeared in her hand from nowhere… after she'd just gotten stabbed through the chest but boy who'd walked through her bedroom wall. _Eh, sanity wasn't working out so well anyways, _Ichiko consoled herself.

"I-Ichiko…" a moan broke her out of her thoughts. The voice was chillingly familiar though distorted with pain. The dread which was threatening to crush Ichiko tightened its grip. She spun to find that the smudges on the horizon had suddenly gotten a whole lot closer, right next to her in fact. The blurring effects of distance dispelled, they resolved themselves into shapes she knew all too well. "W-what's going on, Ichiko?" Her father groaned.

"It hurts, Onee-chan…" Added Yuzu as the pair shambled towards her. Weeping crimson gashes scoured them from head to toe. The soggy peat underneath their feet was slowly growing redder and redder. After a lifetime of seeing ghosts still sporting their mortal injuries into the afterlife, Ichiko thought she would never again be unsettled by the sight of blood. But when it was her family were the ones so rent, no amount of experience could possibly have numbed her. Her brown eyes widened even though all she wanted to do was shut them and never see anything again. Bile rose up in her throat, threatening to spew out onto the soggy ground. It took all of Ichiko's considerable willpower but she held it down.

"I thought you were going to protect us, Ichiko," her blood-soaked father screamed at his daughter. His was voice a shrill, demented parody of his usual playful tone. Hate and accusation boiled in his eyes, making Ichiko want to slip out of her skin and hide somewhere dark and lonely. "Didn't you become a shinigami to protect us?" he shrieked, splattering flecks of blood against Ichiko's face.

In contrast to Ichiko's irate father, Yuzu just sobbed. The tears carved trails in the crimson that coated his cheeks as convulsions wracked his small body. Other than the uncontrollable shaking, he barely moved at all, just stared at hands soaked through with his own blood. "Why?" he whispered, "why didn't you save us, Onee-chan?"

A sound made Ichiko turn around, anything to distract her from the nightmarish scene. A tree had grown behind her were none was before. It was a stunted dead thing that bore neither fruit nor leaves, existing for no other purpose but to simply exist. Its twisted barren branches ineffectually clawed at the sky, as if trying to tear chunks out of the grey expanse that hung heavily overhead.

Rukio leaned against the scaly gray trunk of the tree. As Ichiko stared at the tall, black-clad boy his large violet eyes eased open and he smiled widely. As his lips drew back, Ichiko recoiled in horror. Row after row of shark's teeth filled his mouth and spilled out of the confines of his jaws. Slowly he spoke, seeming to relish every word even though the over-sized teeth cut into his face with every word, "So sorry, Ichiko. You didn't quite make it in time."

"Wha-what did you s-say?" Ichiko stammered out but her words were lost as someone shouted "GOOD MORNING ICHIGO!"

Even gripped in the deepest and most terrifying of nightmares, Ichiko's body had learned to keep its guard up. Instantly, she was awake and ready for battle. Instincts honed by countless early morning attacks flared to life. Even before conscious thought returned, she was assessing the situation. Ichiko was in her own room, in her own bed with the strawberry-print sheets tangled around her legs. All her furniture was in place: down to the cabinets in the corner and the _Pride_ MMA poster listing slightly to the left on her wall. One thing didn't quite fit thought. It took her perhaps a nanosecond to figure out what it was. Her father was flying through the air towards her with one foot outstretched in his unique Wake-Up Kick pose.

_Oh hell no, _Ichiko thought as she grabbed his leading leg with both hands, _I am in NO mood for this! _She roared incoherently and yanked his foot as hard as she could, changing his direction of motion drastically. One would think Isshin would have learned not to jump at his daughter a long time ago but the look of surprise that crossed his face just before said face impacted the metal headboard of Ichiko's bed suggested otherwise. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Especially ones who might have concussions.

Ichiko's father bounced off the unforgiving metal railing and hit the floor with a loud thump. In a split second, Ichiko was out of bed. As her father groaned and tried to sit up, she grabbed his face and slammed the back of his head back into the floor. "Not in the mood today, daddy-dearest," she growled at him at him venomously.

Though his voice was somewhat muffled by Ichiko's death grip on his face, the pride in his voice was unmistakable, "My daughter is becoming such a strong, beautiful woman," he sniffed, holding back tears. "Daddy has nothing left to teach you!"

"That's what you say every time you attack me in my sleep, you bastard!" Ichiko yelled at her insufferable father, "Now get the hell out of my-" The fog of adrenaline cleared from Ichiko's mind without warning. Like someone had driven a pick-axe through the water-main, memories flooded back into her spiky orange head. Flashes of something huge and green, blood splashed against the walls of her home, her family dying, Rukio dying, the sword they'd driven between her breasts, cutting the thing in half with her own sword… then nothing.

But she distinctly remembered seeing her father missing a large chunk out of his back! "What the hell, dad," she cried, trying to sound angry instead of worried, "what's the idea, attacking me when you're so badly injured?"

"Injured? What are you talking about?" he asked, suddenly ceasing his ineffectual attempts to get out of his daughter's grip, "When did I get hurt?" Ichiko took another look. It should have been impossible but the Goat-Chin was conspicuously whole. As far as the state of her father's body was concerned, the events of last night might have never happened at all. _What? Am I going crazy? Was it really just a dream after all?_

The massive hole in the side of the Kurosaki clinic which greeted her as soon as she walked downstairs disagreed with Ichiko's assessment of her sanity. Very clearly, it pointed to the events of last night being horribly, horribly real. Someone, probably her idiot father, had nailed a bunch of boards across the gaping opening. As if that made anything any better! Anyone walking past the street would get a clear view of absolutely everything that went on in the main room of the Kurosaki household. Ichiko feared for the mental health of the pedestrians. Too much exposure to her family would drive the untrained mind mad.

In the background, her family was talking to Ichiko but she wasn't paying attention to them, one of many defense mechanisms Ichiko had developed. The implications of the hole were distracting her. _So… last night really did happen… shit…_

"… truck crashed into the house… miracle… nobody was injured…" Isshin was happily blabbering, completely recovered from the pounding he'd received from his eldest child less than ten minutes before. _Bullshit, _Ichiko thought as she clambered around the boards and out of the Clinic, _there wasn't any truck! There aren't any skid marks on the sidewalk or any scraped off paint in the rubble. Why the hell do they believe something stupid like that?_

"…nobody woke up!" _Considering my family, that's actually believable._

"…criminal got away!" _No, I cut the invisible monster in half right there in the street! _Ichiko kept her thoughts to herself. They were sounding crazy even to her. She sighed and rubbed her hand over her face. Ichiko was suddenly struck how tired she was. With a groan, she sat down on the sidewalk and stared just at the massive chunk that had been torn out of the side of her home.

Isshin, Yuzu and Karin walked past their seated sibling and climbed back inside through the gaping opening. As he was just about to pass out of sight, her blond brother turned around and smiled brightly, "Come on, Onee-chan! If you don't eat soon, you're gonna be late!" Ichiko smiled weakly back but motioned for him to go on without her. The orange haired girl wasn't done thinking, something that considerably harder to do with her extraordinarily noisy family present.

_Everyone's wounds have been healed and they think the damage to the house was an accident… Is this how the shinigami cover their tracks? How many of the accidents in the paper are really shinigami cover-ups? _But a more important question wriggled its way into Ichiko's mind. A question that came with the image of solemn, violet eyed face framed by silken black bangs. _Where did Rukio go? Is he back in the Soul Society already?_

For some reason, Ichiko hoped he hadn't.

It was almost noon at Karakura High School and Kengyuu Inoue was bored. Bored and tired. The tall boy lounged under an open window and let the cool breeze wash over him. Gentle gusts ruffled his short burnt-orange hair. He groaned contentedly at the feeling. Long hours of waiting tables last night had left him completely exhausted and he could do with a little soothing. He'd barely had time to make himself lunch for the next day before he collapsed on the futon in the small apartment he shared with his best friend and fell asleep. _Maybe I'll ask Chad to give me a back massage…_

The little shut eye he'd gotten wasn't nearly enough and he was still boned tired now. Of course, it hadn't helped that Chad had woken up Kengyuu up an hour early so that the two of them could use the school gym before classes started. Even though he'd worked with about half as much weight as his towering roommate, Kengyuu was still extremely sore. But being tired and achy wasn't the real issue, his boredom was. From nowhere, a huge yawn spit his face and he slumped back against the window sill, not quite mustering enough energy to close his mouth all the way.

Kengyuu frowned slightly as he began to drift off to sleep. His last thought before unconsciousness claimed him was _Where's Ichiko?_

Chad didn't let his friend stay asleep for long. He crouched down next to the other boy and pushed his mouth all the way closed.

Kengyuu's round chocolate eyes snapped open in surprise and panic. Something unintelligible sputtered from his mouth as scrambled away from Chad like a puppy put down after being held for too long. With spectacular gracelessness, Kengyuu tumbled out of his chair and crashed into the ground.

No one else but Kengyuu could have noticed but Chad grinned slightly at his friend's reaction. Kengyuu probably hadn't noticed it either because he was too busy hyperventilating. "You were sleeping," Chad informed Kengyuu in his resonant bass. When Kengyuu's breathing slowly to normal levels, Chad straightened and offered his the other boy a large dark hand to help him up.

"Yeah…" Kengyuu said with a distracted smile and let Chad do most of the work to get him on his feet. It didn't seem to bother Chad who hoisted his roommate up like he weighed nothing at all despite that fact that, at six feet tall with a sprinter's cut physique, Kengyuu weighed a lot more than nothing

Chad studied his friend's face closely, noting his wandering eyes and general distractedness. For someone who had known him for as long as Chad had, the cause of Kengyuu's behavior was painfully obvious. "She's not here yet," he told the auburn-haired boy. Chad didn't miss the flash of disappointment that tugged down the corner of Kengyuu's mouth. But the towering boy didn't ever miss much of anything at all. Silent and perceptive, Chad secret thought those were his best qualities.

Kengyuu sighed as if he had really been expecting Ichiko to turn up the second he closed his eyes. Reluctantly, a faint blush crept into his cheeks. Kengyuu winced slightly and eyed his half-Mexican friend from under a fringe of orange bangs, "That obvious, huh?" Chad only nodded.

"It's just not the same without Ichiko here…" Kengyuu whined. Chad nodded.

"She's like a bright shiny beacon of sparkly goodness, you know…"Chad paused for a second, considering whether or not anything about Ichiko could be considered sparkly. He eventually decided that it was improbable but nodded anyways because there wasn't really any point in arguing with Kengyuu. Especially not when Ichiko Kurosaki was involved.

"I get so worried about her!" Kengyuu whined even louder and looked around the class room again to see if his orange-haired crush had appeared in the couple seconds since he'd last looked. She hadn't.

An actual look of confusion appeared on Chad's face. Normally Chad would have kept on silently nodding until his friend had worn himself out but this was too much. Even though he tried to fight it, Chad had to ask, "Worry about Ichiko? Why?"

Kengyuu looked up at his friend a mirrored look of surprise spread over his face as if the reason he worried about Ichiko should be obvious. "What if she got kidnapped or something?" he blurted out. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he began to pace back and forth in front of the open window. Chad sat down in a nearby chair to watch his friend patiently. Whenever Kengyuu started pacing it was usually a sign that a major zone-out was approaching. 'What if she was just walking down the street and someone saw her hair and was like 'that's the best hair ever. I'm going to take it,' and they snuck up behind her and hit her in the head with a baseball bat but then she started bleeding and it got it her hair and they were like 'gross, I don't want bloody hair!' so they sold her to an underground fight club instead and she had to fight this huge guy who was like five hundred pounds and then he sat on Ichiko and Ichiko couldn't breathe and…"

Mercifully, Mizuki interrupted him, "Ichiko probably won't be in school today," she said matter-of-factly. A hint of a concerned expression broke through Ichiko's short friend's usual poker face, "at the very least, she's going to be a little late."

"You were with her when she got kidnapped?" Kengyuu gasped. The shroud of exhaustion that had blanketed him was immediately thrown off, he grabbed Mizuki by the shoulders and yanked their faces together until they were barely an inch apart. "Did you see which way the van went? Did you write down a license plate number?" The auburn haired boy demanded with extremely unnecessary volume.

Mizuki quirked an eyebrow at Kengyuu, "Kidnappers?" She cast a glance at Chad who still sat watching impassively. The on his face expression was as inscrutable as ever behind low-hanging bangs. "You really should make sure your boyfriend is taking his medication, Yasotura-kun."

Immediately, Kengyuu jerked back from Mizuki, his eyes expanding to improbable proportions, he started to sputter something incomprehensible, too embarrassed to form real words. Chad just shook his head slightly. "Kengyuu doesn't have meds. Or a boyfriend," the towering boy stated simply.

Mizuki grinned with sugary sweetness, "Really, the two of you had us all fooled," she said, "Anyways, when I went by there this morning there was this huge hole in the side of the clinic. You could see all the way into their living room. It was pretty trashed up in there too. I think her dad said something about a truck crashing into their house during the night. But back to the boyfriend thing… you two are _sure_-"

"A TRUCK?" Kengyuu shouted, invading Mizuki's personal space with his face again. She only flinched back slightly. After knowing Kengyuu for a while, one grew to expect such actions from the tall, auburn-haired boy. "Which way did the truck go? Did you get license plate number?" he asked, hell-bent on retribution and obviously not realizing that Mizuki probably had been asleep in her own house when the event actually occurred.

Chad sighed quietly at his roommate's antics. Before Mizuki made fun of his friend again in a way Kengyuu wouldn't understand, Chad asked the question that was actually important, "Is Ichiko ok?"

The short girl opened her mouth to reply but a familiar bored voice from behind the cluster of students beat her to the punch, "I'm fine, big guy." Mizuki and Kengyuu whirled around while Chad just turned slowly. "And don't go asking me for details or anything," Ichiko continued, "none of my stupid family even woke up."

From the moment he had first heard Ichiko's voice, Kengyuu's blush had been steadily intensifying. Ichiko was looking… rumpled this morning. Her normally spiky hair was even more untamed than normal, the ribbon at the neck of her uniform was off-center and… and… and the top-most buttons of her uniform had been left undone. Kengyuu knew he was staring but he couldn't help it. In his opinion, "rumpled" was definitely the one of the best possible looks on Ichiko.

_Quickly, you fool, say something before it gets awkward! _Kengyuu chastised himself sharply. Without really thinking, he blurted out, 'Kurosaki-chan! G-good morning! Y-you're looking great for someone who was just kidnapped!" _Oh god, what did I just say…_Kengyuu resisted the urge to creep into a corner and never speak again.

Ichiko gave him a confused look then, coming to the usually correct conclusion, glared at Mizuki, "Just what the hell did you tell Inoue about what happened, Mizuki? You can't take advantage of impressionable people like that." Mizuki threw her hands up in protest, shaking her head to reinforce her lack of responsibility for Kengyuu's confusion. Ichiko snorted, not believing her devious friend was completely innocent, "You seriously think I'm gonna believe that Inoue made up the kidnapping thing by himself?" She glanced back at the boy who hadn't stopped beaming widely at her and was sweating a little bit. "Yeah, actually I believe it," Ichiko amended and slumped into her seat.

As soon as the orange-haired girl's butt hit the ceramic, a too-familiar voice said sweetly from the seat next to her, "Are you Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichiko felt like she'd been dunked in ice-water. _Oh hell no. _It took grinding physical effort for Ichiko to turn and look at the boy who was sitting at the next desk over. He was tall, a little bit taller than Chad even. He was slender and dark-haired with features that could cut glass. Angular violet eyes regarded her from under regal brows. He was saying something that sounded suspiciously like "A pleasure to meet you" but Ichiko knew she was mishearing something because she already knew this particular boy pretty damn well.

The boy sitting next to her, a smile plastered across his stupid but undeniably handsome face, was Rukio Kuchiki. _Oh hell no, _Ichiko swore again but the words couldn't quite find their way out of her mouth because her brain was still trying to process his presence and not quite ready to say anything out loud yet.

Ichiko just sat and opened and closed her mouth a couple times while Mizuki happily inserted herself into the conversation. "This is Kuchiki-san! He just transferred in today." The girl leaned close to her orange-haired friend and whispered, "Cute isn't he?" Rukio pretended not to have heard and smiled with obviously rehearsed charm. _How the hell does nobody else see through this, _Ichiko was on the verge of shouting. Mizuki steadfastly ignored the fish-out-of-water expression that had seized a hold of Ichiko's face and she continued to relate whatever blatant lies Rukio had convinced the short girl of, "It's a weird time but his family was in a situation where they had to move suddenly."

Rage helped Ichiko manage to get her mouth somewhat back under control, "But you're a-" she started to hiss at Rukio.

The tall boy hiked the voltage up on his smile and extended his hand towards her, saying, "Kurosaki-chan, I haven't received my text books yet, would you mind terribly if I looked at yours?"

Whatever response indignant Ichiko might have made died on her tongue when she saw what was written on Rukio's palm. Large bold characters clearly spelled out 'Say something and I kill you.' _Oh god,_ Ichiko realized,_ he's a lunatic…_

"Where are we going?" Rukio huffed impatiently.

Ichiko didn't respond. She was too busy trying to figure out just what the hell the shinigami was still doing in her world. A little part of her was secretly happy that Rukio was still around but most of her was seething mad at his continued systematic destruction of her life.

The two of them rounded the corner of the school building and headed towards the athletic fields. From the windows lining the several-story edifice behind them, many pairs eyes watched their progress with varying degrees of interest. Ichiko couldn't care less but the unnecessary attention seemed to be setting Rukio on edge slightly. He glanced about then increased his pace jogged until he was next to the orange-haired girl. With legs as long as his, it took him three strides.

When they were neck-and-neck he leaned down and asked with a perfectly straight face, "Leading me to such an empty place, what dost thou intend of me?"

Ichiko made a face but didn't respond. Instead, she took the opportunity to grab his loose tie and forcefully drag him behind the bleachers.

"Milady," he started, "what dost thou-"

_Nope, can't deal with this anymore…_"Talk like a normal person, damn it!" she shouted and planted a foot on his chest. With a solid push, Rukio suddenly found himself sprawled out under the bleachers, crisscross shadows dappling his face. Ichiko clambered through the opening in the metal latticework after him and the tall boy took the moment of peace to prop himself up on his elbows.

The insulted look Rukio shot at the girl who was standing over him with her fists indignantly planted on her hips was completely ineffective. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Rukio groused, "I thought it was pretty good for learning in one day. Maybe _you're _the one who doesn't talk like a normal person."

"One, I am normal. Two, shut up and explain what you're doing here!"

"Which one?"

"Which one what?"

Rukio rolled his eyes, "Obviously I can't shut up and explain at the same time, twerp." Instead of an answering verbally, Ichiko responded by delivering a solid kick to his side. After Rukio had finished groaning in pain, he wheezed, "What's there to explain?"

This, of course, prompted Ichiko to kick him again. "You know damn well what!" she shouted. "You're job's over, right? So what are you doing in my class and not, I don't know, back in the Soul Society?"

Rukio blinked his large, angular eyes at the orange-haired girl whose kicks had left her practically straddling him. As if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he said, "Only Shinigami can return to the Soul Society." He dragged one long-fingered hand over his face and sighed, "I can't go back. At least not yet."

Ichiko had been ready to kick his defenseless side again but the answer to her question was not at all what she was expecting. The look of pain in his eyes suddenly made her extremely guilty that she'd just been hitting him. Still, she had a reputation to keep up so none of the tenderness made its way to her deep brown eyes. Instead she slowly asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rukio gave her a sad smile, "It means I lost my powers. I'm not a shinigami anymore."

"Not a shinigami anymore," Ichiko repeated, a little stunned. "But they can't have just disappeared? Where did your 'shinigami powers go?'"

Before she could react, Rukio stretched upwards and tapped the center Ichiko's chest with a single long finger, "Inside you."

Ichiko felt heat creeping up her cheeks. Suddenly, she became acutely aware of exactly how compromising their position was. If anyone were to walk by at that moment, they would _definitely_ get the impression that something naughty was just about to happen. _No, _Ichiko reminded herself,_ I'm not going to get embarrassed! I'm _angry_!_

With a snarl she slapped Rukio's hand away and moved to sit down on one of the support bars. The cold, thin sheet of metal dug into her thighs but the mild discomfort was far better than straddling Rukio. Mental pictures that disagreed decided now was the perfect time to show themselves to Ichiko. Ichiko forced herself not to blush. "You blind? Do I _look _like a shinigami to you?" she growled at Rukio.

Rukio sighed; _she's making this far harder than it has to be._" My powers are not inside your physical body, Kurosaki. They are within your soul. Last night, I intended to transfer no more than half of my shinigami powers into" _but something inside of you hungered for power and tore _all _my power from me,_" but I accidentally transferred almost all of them instead. Instead of temporarily turning you into a shinigami, the nature of your soul has been transformed. It may be hard to accept at first but the truth is this: I'm living in an artificial body with barely any abilities left, effectively human… and you are now the shinigami."

Ichiko couldn't quite breathe. She felt light-headed, sick. _Me? A shinigami? _"So? That doesn't answer the question. what are you still doing here? What do you want with me?" It was more of an accusation than a question. Deep down, Ichiko knew what the answer to the question was going to be, she just wished she didn't.

Rukio shifted until he was sitting against a bar adjacent to the one Ichiko perched on instead of lying on the ground. Locking his violet eyes with her light brown ones he stated, "Until my powers return, you will take over my shinigami duties."

"But I-"

"But since you have no idea how to use shinigami powers," Rukio continued headless of Ichiko's protests, "I will, of course, be assisting you."

"Isn't there-"

"You really have no right to refuse, since you were-"

Finally Ichiko managed to get a word in, "I _wasn't _going to refuse, idiot!" she shouted at Rukio.

He blinked at her surprised. _I take back what I thought about her making this difficult… She's accepting it just like that? There has to be some catch…_"You're agreeing to this? Without fighting?" From his experience with the girl, if Ichiko wasn't the type _not_ to argue.

Ichiko sighed and heaved herself off the support. "I don't know how much you Shinigami keep tabs on us humans so I maybe you know this already but I've been protecting spirits all my life. In my own way. When someone is disturbing their rest, I help bring them peace again. When they are obsessed with something still in the living world, I try to get them over it. Now I have to fight monsters for spirits, it's not too much of a change. I'll probably get used to it," With a slightly sad smile on her face, Ichiko leaned down and offered Rukio her hand, "Someone needs to look after the dead, right? Besides, it's not like this is a permanent thing, right?"

Rukio's smile widened into a mischievous grinned and drew something out of his pocket. He grasped Ichiko's hand firmly in his own but instead of using her to pull himself up, he yanked her down towards. At the same time, his other hand came up rapidly. Ichiko's caught a brief glimpse of a glove with some sort of red-and-black pattern but Rukio's palm impacted Ichiko's chin before she could get a good look at what was emblazoned on it.

Then the orange-haired girl learned what paper felt like when someone ripped it. The sensation wasn't exactly painful but "tearing" was the only word that could have described it. She watched in horror as she was pushed out of her body. Bonelessly, the form she'd been occupying until a second ago slumped against Rukio's chest.

"Y-you just pushed out my soul, didn't you?" she shouted at Rukio, disbelief overriding anger in Ichiko's voice. The orange-haired girl found herself now wearing a jet-black shihakusho and traditional sandals. _Wait... this is the outfit from my dream… _Something was slightly different though, there was a slight weight pulling down on the obi at her waist. Ichiko already knew what she'd find but she looked anyways. Sure enough, a slim wakizashi resting in its scabbard hung from her belt. The red cloth wrapping the handle seemed to call out to her hand, begging to be held. No, begging to be used.

The change should have been disconcerting but it simply felt right instead. The sword even felt comforting. It was nothing like the euphoria Ichiko remembered vaguely from the night before but the feeling of wholeness was undeniable.

Rukio didn't answer Ichiko's question. The answer was obvious. Instead, he gently set Ichiko's body down on the ground and said, "It's lucky that you're so willing to help, because I got an order about an hour ago and we need to take care of it now. You can't fight hollows in your human body. Follow me."

"I know this park…" Ichiko mused. The pair stood just outside of a playground that looked like it had seen better days. Even if it hadn't been the middle of the day and all the children hadn't been in school, there probably wouldn't have been anyone playing on the rusting toys. The umbrellas that covered the picnic tables scattered about all had rather large holes in them. Two out of three swings in the swing set had broken links and their grimy seats slumped against the ground. Weeds choked sandbox until there was barely any sand visible at all.

"Does a spirit ever appear near this park?" Rukio asked.

Ichiko nodded, "Yeah, a five year old kid. He usually appears here around noon. I've been trying to get him to move on for months but he just wants to keep playing. It's so sad. The city shut down the park after he died here and stopped maintaining it. But the kid doesn't seem to notice that nothing works right anymore. Whenever I talk to him, he tells me he's waiting for his mom to pick him up."

"So… he's your friend?"

Ichiko was about to deny it; refusing any relationship to spirits had become a habit for her. But, under the circumstances, she supposed that something closer to the truth might be acceptable. "Yeah," she admitted, "I suppose you could say that."

"That's good," Rukio said and handed Ichiko his cell phone. "Take a look at this." The text message screen was open but instead of words, incomprehensible runes covered the flickering display. Ichiko's eyebrow quirked upwards.

"Um… what's this gibberish?" Ichiko turned the phone this way and that, trying to see if it made more sense from different directions.

"It means that within 15 minutes of 12 o'clock, somewhere in a 20-meter vicinity of the former Yumizawa Children's Park, a hollow will appear. And, most likely, it will appear to attack your friend."

Ichiko's wakizashi was already scraping from its scabbard at her hip when a bloodcurdling scream rent the air. She spun, the elegant blade poised for either attack or defense, and instantly spotted the hollow. It was a thick-bodied, insectile thing. Six pointed legs grew off of a main body which was covered in raised black ridges. The most disturbing thing about it was how _humanoid _it was. The chest was almost perfectly human and the mask it wore over whatever sort of face it had was reminiscent of a deeply frowning man's.

And the five-year old spirit was running from it. Tears streamed down his tiny face as he screamed, "Mooooooommmmmmmmyyyyyy!" The thing was gaining on him. Fast. Ichiko knew she could move faster.

"Shinigami must treat all spirits equally," Rukio was saying, his long arms crossed over his chest, "if you save this boy now, you are agreeing to save all spirits afterwards. Think-" Ichigo hadn't been listening at all. The moment the hollow had come into view, her course of action was decided. In Ichiko's mind there was only ever one option: protect. She had seen enough people hurt. Nothing was going to stand between her and saving the boy.

"Shut the hell up! You're distracting me!" She shouted as she vaulted the railing that separated her from the charging hollow and its defenseless prey. Perhaps defenseless wasn't quite the right word anymore. Ichiko and her razor-sharp blade were the best defense any spirit could ask for.

"You are agreeing to give up your ever life for duty! If you do this now, there is no turning back, Kurosaki!" Rukio shouted after Ichiko but she was already halfway to the hollow and not slowing down. Across the park, the child stumbled. It was a close thing. The boy almost regained his balance, but whatever passed for gravity in the spirit realm had too strong a grip on him. He fell. Immediately the hollow was above him, raising one sharpened limb to impale the child.

"I…" Ichiko coiled and sprung. Gravity seemed to barely affect the orange-haired girl, she soared upward like an arrow loosed from a greatbow. At the apex of her flight, she passed in front of the sun and it struck her fiery orange hair. For a moment, the light caught in her brilliant tresses. They shone as if lit from with. In that instant, Ichiko Kurosaki was an angel of retribution wreathed in holy fires. It took Rukio's breath away. _This is what she truly is_. Then Ichiko was descending. The hollow noticed Ichiko at the last second. Even behind its mask, Rukio could see the fear etched on its features. "…know!" Ichiko blade flashed in the sunlight, slicing cleaning through one of the hollow's shoulders and sending the limb that had been upraised high into the air.

Ichiko landed on top of the little boy's spirit in a protective embrace. With fluid grace, she rolled away with her charge tucked against her chest and sprung up again. Her blade was at the ready. The hollow howled, whether it was at the loss of its limb or its prey Ichiko couldn't tell. Nor, frankly, did she care. It was a monster trying to hurt and innocent. She was going to kill it.

Apparently, the hollow's plan for Ichiko was much similar. It charged the orange-haired girl. _Idiot, _Ichiko thought as she reversed the grip on her wakizashi. The hollow's stab was faster than a human would have been able to see let alone dodge. Ichiko side-stepped it easily and rammed her blade' through the insectile monster's masked forehead.

The hollow stopped dead in its tracks. The little spirit stared up in shocked silence. All was still for a moment. Steadily, dust began to dribble out around Ichiko's tsuba which was pressed all the way against the monster's forehead. As if the spell was broken, the boy began to sob lightly. Ichiko pulled her blade from the monster forehead and replaced it in the sheath at her waist. The hollow collapsed lifeless.

The tall girl dropped to one knee before the boy and gathered him up in her arms. "Shh… it's okay. I gotcha, I gotcha. You're safe now, kid. Nothing's gonna hurt you anymore." Gently, she ruffled the child's hair. All the attention only seemed to make him cry harder. The tears were no longer of fear though, but of relief.

Behind them, the hollow was dissipating like ash thrown into the wind. Rukio approached Ichiko and the spirit from behind and opened his mouth. Before the ex-Shinigami could speak, Ichiko stopped him, "Don't Kuchiki," she began, "I owe you a debt for helping me save my family, Kuchiki, and I'm not trash who doesn't pay her debts. But that's not why I'm doing this. There's more pain in this world than anyone knows how to deal with it and spirits have it worse than most. Someone's gotta look out for them." Ichiko paused, "But that's not why I'm doing this either. This isn't some pity crusade that I'm gonna drop as soon as it gets boring. I'm doing this because I want to. Don't give me any of this crap about duty and responsibility. I'm already in this for the long-haul. So now, you owe it me to make me as strong as possible."

The spirit Ichiko was holding had stopped crying. "What are talking about, Onee-chan?"

Rukio grinned, "Just konso the spirit, twerp."

**So what do you all think? Kengyuu was kind of a challenge to portray and I think I missed the mark a little bit. I wanted to preserve what makes Orihime endearing (or annoying depending on your perspective) but it doesn't translate as well to the masculine as I hoped. Anyways, I'd love some feedback on that front in particular. By the way I picked out his name because Kengyuu is the name of Orihime's husband in the Tanabata Festival myth. It seemed appropriate. Anyways, I'm going to clear something up just in case there was some confusion: Chad and Tatsuki retained their original genders but switched their best friends. There is a reason for this, I assure you :D**

**Also, I'm going to be mucking with the powers of the characters. From a story standpoint, the powers of Bleach characters are based on who they are. In this story the characters are similar to their originals but not the same. If you haven't noticed, my Ichiko actually acts almost opposite of Canon Ichigo in a lot of situations. Because they are not the same people, they have different powers. From a writer's standpoint: this was done because I love Kido incantations and would get bored if I had to describe fights exactly how they happened in the manga. Don't worry though, this is not a Powerful!Ichi story any more than Canon!Bleach is already one.**

**Anyways, I can't wait to show you next chapter, I'll think you'll get a real kick out of what song Kengyuu is singing to himself :D**

**Please rate my lovely little dumplings,**

**Turney**


	3. Headhittin'

**Hi! I said this on the front page of the story already but if you haven't read that, I think it bears repeating here. Drum roll please *no drumroll* Fine, I'll say it without dramatic accompaniment: I'm back! Let the celebrations ensue! *no celebrations* Should have expected that. Anyways, I went through some real life things about a year ago and real life did what it does best, mess up the important things. That should be over now. I'm going to admit that I'm a world-class flake so no promises as to the rest of this story but… you know… here's hoping. **

**Boring stuff is over with. I've actually been wanting to write this chapter for months. It's one of the ones that made me want to start this project. Not only do I intend it to be the first to cover more than one of the manga's chapters* but it'll also be where Ichiko starts to display the mechanical differences between her and Ichigo**! **Exciting shit, right! Also, I get another shot at getting Kengyuu right and relationship stuff is always fun to play with!**

**Look at me, going on like a spider-goose. Stop me before I hurt myself.**

*** Yeah, so that didn't really happen. I intended for this chapter to be chapters 3-6 in the manga, covering the entire ordeal that Orihime goes through with Acidwire. But about 2,000 words into this chapter I realized that I had covered less than 1/20 of what I needed to write. At that point, I had two option. One, I could cut down on my descriptions of things and make my writing much more brief. Or two, I could do the opposite and make each Manga chapter, no matter how unimportant, its own chapter in my story. If y'all can't guess which one I went with then you haven't been paying close enough attention. EVERYTHING MATTERS KIDLETS! EVERYTHING! ... I think I need a therapist.**

**P.S. I don't own Bleach or Call Me Maybe. I don't even own them a little bit. Hmmm… Rae is my middle name too though… Could it be more than coincidence?**

Most nights in Karakura Town are quiet especially in the residential district. Past a certain hour, windows are darkened, conversations grow hushed and the busy world of wakefulness spirals down into the languor of sleep. That hour had long passed by the time Kengyuu stumbled out of work. The boss had kept him late again. The lanky, handsome boy mourned him clumsiness for the hundredth time that night. The manager had decided to send the rest of the cleaning staff home early after Kengyuu had ran into a waiter who had been carrying the orders for a party of six. The daunting task had taken him until the wee hours of the morning. Having already taken an eight hour shift before his impromptu overtime, Kengyuu was beginning to think that sidewalk was looking pretty comfortable.

The boy considered it for a few seconds before he decided against it. _If I don't come home tonight, _Kengyuu deduced using his own brand of reality, _Chad will get really worried and go looking for me. He'll probably get lost too. Then he'll wander outside of the city and into the woods and get ambushed by wolves! _Motivated by his quickly escalating fantasy, Kengyuu locked the restaurant up and began to jog down the sidewalk.

_Chad's big and strong, so he'll fight off all the wolves but he'll get injured because there'll be like two hundred of them and that's too many for even Ichiko to handle! _Kengyuu gasped out loud even though the streets were deserted besides the occasional car which roared down the street, _One of the wolves is a werewolf and Chad will get infected! Of course, he'll fight the curse but muscles can't beat magic and he'll turn too! Then Chad will come back as the most terrible Werewolf ever and kill the Mayor! When the Mayor Is dead, all the police will quit then me and Ichiko will have to form a crime fighting duo to protect the innocent of Karakura town! Go Team Inosaki, Go! But if we do that, we might have to fight WereChad and that'd be really bad! I can't let Ichiko and WereChad kill each other!_

Kengyuu gasped again as another realization struck him, _What if Chad already left to look for me?! I've got to make sure he can find me! _A look of steely squint replaced Kengyuu's usual puppy-dog expression. There was only one thing to do. It wasn't going to be pretty…

"I THREW A WISH IN THE WELL! DON'T ASK ME I'LL NEVER TELL!" Kengyuu dropped into a dead sprint as she belted out the lyrics of his favorite song. The tune had come over from America a year ago and, though Kengyuu didn't really know what it meant, he loved the sound of it. Vaguely, Kengyuu remembered Chad telling him that it was dating advice for gay men and maybe not the best song for him to sing in public but Ken wasn't quite sure. Still, if Chad was out here, he would know who was singing and follow Kengyuu's voice.

Lights came on in houses along the street. Furious cries of "Who is making that damn racket!" "Shut the hell up, kid!" and "Stay there, asshole, I'm getting my hatchet!" rent the previously still air. Kengyuu didn't notice them. All of his attention was focused on the partially awesome but mostly horrible future that would unfold if he didn't make it home in time. The world was nothing more than an indistinct dark blur whipping past the sprinting boy's peripheral vision. Kengyuu didn't notice the crosswalk, didn't notice the headlights.

"I LOOKED TO YOU AS IT FELL!" Kengyuu belted out at the top of his lungs before sucking in a deep breath. As Freshman Captain of the track team, Kengyuu had plenty of experience running but even for the most sprinters, singing at the same time presents something of a challenge. Kengyuu exhaled and gulped down air again, preparing for another verse. He also stepped out onto the crosswalk. "AND NOW YOU'RE IN MY WAY!"

* * *

Brakes squealed.

_Jason Maurey was exactly the kind of man Claire Collins's daddy had told her to avoid. John Collins liked meek, spineless men whose favorite taste was his shoe shine. Simpering toadies who couldn't look at Claire the way that Jason was looking at her now, despite the fact that they still had both their eyes. _The eyepatch… oh god, the eyepatch!

_It was mysterious, alluring. Claire could not resist his charms any longer. Moving with mature, seductive grace Claire sashayed next to the man who so entranced her. "Excuse me, sir-" she began but Jason's molten steel voice overpowered hers._

"_It's not 'sir,' ma'am. It's 'Captain. 'Captain _SAI #1BAKUDO!" Ichiko roared. Rukio slammed the book she had been reading shut and resisted the urge to throw it at Ichiko's head. Her training was going exactly as Rukio had expected: not well. The times that Rukio had seen the human in battle, her skills were impressive but relying on skill alone got you killed in the end. Besides, Rukio had been given a close-up glimpse, albeit a brief one, of every nook and cranny within Ichiko's soul when he transferred his powers into her. The ocean of Reiryoku he'd seen within Ichiko frightened him. _But why is her sword that size? _Rukio couldn't help but wonder. Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. There were more important matters to deal with at the moment.

"Bakudo #1, Sai. The order is as important as the incantation, Ichiko, which you neglected to say completely." Rukio was trying his hardest to be patient with the orange-haired girl but she was making it very difficult. _The simplest spell there is and she refuses to get it right… _"Again," Rukio ordered, "and incant first this time."

"Come on," Ichiko moaned, "this is stupid! You didn't have to spout some bullshit magic spell when you tied me up in my bed room. You just pointed at me and wham! Instant bondage. Speaking of which, why am I learning weird crap like this anyways?" It had already been a long, tortuous Monday before Rukio had dragged her to the park and started trying to get Ichiko to memorize some crazy sounding gibberish. After a full day of classes, Ichiko didn't have the slightest interest in memorizing anything. But Rukio was being problematic.

"I have more practice using the Demon Arts than you have practice breathing, Kurosaki" Rukio said, his voice icy and commanding. "For novices like you, the incantation is vital to the spell. Again." Rukio's voice was considerably more strained.

Ichiko seemed determined to test the limits of the boy's patience. Instead of beginning the incantation for Sai, a devious look crossed Ichiko's face. Rukio was not a fan of that look. Not only did it mean Ichiko was about to be difficult, it also did someone strange to his stomach that Rukio was not entirely comfortable with. "Gimme the manual," the orange-haired girl demanded. Not waiting for Rukio's response, she lunged forward and tried to snag it from his hand.

At the last moment, Rukio pulled the book away. "Why?" He asked indignantly, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up his cheeks. _Nothing to hide here, nothing at all…_

Ichiko snorted in a distinctly unladylike fashion. "Cause I bet your 'manual' doesn't say anything about incantations."

"Of course it does!" Rukio protested but Ichiko was making another grab for the book anyways. Evading her dexterous fingers again, Rukio did some quick thinking. "This manual contains secrets that you aren't ready for. They would shatter your human mind. There are things within this tome that could undo the very fabric of space and time. "

A mocking grin spread over Ichiko's face. "Really?" She snickered and folded her arms across her chest, "Ya know that looks an awful lot like one of those trashy romance novels Yuzu thinks nobody knows about! You didn't take that from under his bed did you?"

Rukio's blush intensified. "No! Foolish girl, it says 'Kido Instruction Manual' right here on the cover!" Rukio pointed to the sheet of paper he'd taped over _Ships of Seduction_'s tell-tale illustrations and hastily doodled on. In retrospect, Rukio probably should have predicted this outcome but that didn't make getting caught any less embarrassing.

Ichiko smirked some more as the tall raven-haired boy squirmed under her scrutiny. Seeing Rukio sweat was something she found strangely gratifying. "Riiiiiiiiiiiight..." Ichiko drawled. "You have fun with your _instruction manual, _Kuchiki, I'm going to karate." Ichiko said brusquely after giving appropriate time for the magnitude of her sarcasm to sink in.

* * *

Kengyuu's favorite walk home from school took him past the park, especially in springtime. Birds chirped happily, flowers bloomed brightly and the sun shone merrily. Everything seemed right in the world on days like these. The auburn haired boy tried to resist the urge to skip down the road and barely succeeded. He settled for singing instead.

"_I'd trade my soul for a wish! Pennies and dimes for a wish!_"

When he was using it for its intended purpose, Kengyuu actually had a very good singing voice. If he had had the time for it, Kengyuu would have joined the school choir but his schedule was more than busy enough already. As it was, the auburn-hair settled for singing whenever the opportunity presented itself. Which added another item to the list of reasons why no one but Sado Yasutora was the only person who could live with him.

"_I wasn't looking for this, but now you're in my way!"_

All the cares of the day and last night simply seemed to melt away. Happy daydreams frolicked through his head. A wide, innocent smile spread from one corner of his mouth to the other. Then Kengyuu saw one of the very few things that could have made him happier at that moment: a bright orange shock of hair next to a bench in the park.

"It's Kurosaki-chan!" He exclaimed and immediately changed course, making a beeline towards his crush.

* * *

"Listen up, Kurosaki," Rukio said as he tossed the book over one shoulder. It wasn't going to help him anymore. "That may or may not have been a book I stole from your brother but whatever the case it doesn't diminish the value of what I'm trying to teach you. You told me to make you strong, remember? Well, this is how you do it."

Ichiko made an exasperated noise but she turned back towards her tall companion anyways and didn't make any further attempts to leave. "I still don't see how making me memorize some weird-ass nursery rhyme is gonna make me stronger," Ichiko complained but her heart wasn't really in it. Rukio was right, she had asked for this.

Rukio breathed an internal sigh of relief. This would be a lot easier with Ichiko's cooperation. "Let me start from the beginning. When we go through training, Shinigami are taught three disciplines: hakuda, zanjutsu and kidō. Hakuda encompasses hand-to-hand combat and body-based techniques. Zanjutsu is bladework. You seem to already know at least the basics of both these fields so we'll save those for later. Kidō is something you know nothing about. It is the art which Shinigami use to manipulate Reiryoku or Spiritual Energy."

Ichiko just stared at Rukio, the look on her face growing steadily more and more confused. A slightly glazed look descended over Rukio's eyes as he plowed on headless of Ichiko's expression. "Kidō spells come in three types but at their core they are basically the same. The first step is to gather your Reiryoku, the second is shaping it and the third is directing it. For most beings gathering and directing Reiryoku is instinctual, it's the middle step, shaping, which is difficult. There are just over two hundred specific 'shapes' of Reiryoku which have been discovered to produce useful effects. These shapes have been categorized by type and sorted in order of complexity and power. Each distinct form is a different kidō spell. Are you still following me?"

Ichiko looked like she was ready to fall asleep at Rukio's lecture but she nodded anyways. "When do you get to the part where I use spoken word poetry to kill hollows?" Ichiko's snarky tone didn't seem to have any effect on Rukio.

"Later," he replied helpfully. "As I was saying, the shaping is difficult. Reiryoku is not a substance whose nature is easy to grasp with the conscious mind. Shaping it intentionally is extremely difficult and requires substantial practice and power. This is where the incantation comes in. Think of the incantation as a set of instructions for the subconscious. When spoken aloud while channeling Reiryoku, it causes you to unintentionally form the intended shape. Of course, there's more to it than just that but those are the basics. Understand, Kurosaki?"

Ichiko didn't respond immediately. "Ummm… you're aware that makes no goddamn sense, right. Seriously, you sound frickin' crazy. Do they give Shinigami psych evals or just toss you out into battle and hope for the best?"

Rukio sighed and ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. He'd really hoped that Ichiko had decided to listen to him for once. No such luck, the tall redhead was being her usual uncooperative self. Seven _billions of them and I get this one, _Rukio lamented silently. Out loud he said, "Reiryoku manipulation is the most important skill a shinigami can possess and it encompasses more than just kidō. The Demon Arts are, however, a fundamental building block which leads to every other high-level skill. It's a miracle you've survived so far with the way you've been fighting."

Ichiko ground her teeth. What irked her wasn't that the idea of kidō or Reiryoku really seemed all that far-fetched. With what the past few days had held for her, not much was completely unbelievable anymore. What really upset her was that it seemed like a bunch of dirty tricks. For eleven years, Ichiko had honed her body into a deadly weapon through blood, sweat and tears. She'd learned to fight not only in the dojo or at home but in the schoolyard and later, when no one who knew her was brave enough to fight her, in back alleys and bad neighborhoods. If Ichiko knew one thing, it was how to defend herself.

And now this kid she barely knew was coming along and telling her it wasn't enough, that the skills she'd sacrificed so much to master weren't going to cut it anymore. So what if there really was some form magic that she could theoretically use? That didn't mean she had to. _Who the hell does he think he is? _Ichiko seethed. _I never needed this crap before._

Rukio watched Ichiko's face intently. Even though she was avoiding his eyes, he noted the shifting interplay of emotions that skimmed over her features. _Perhaps I'm pushing her too hard, _Rukio realized. _We should have started with something she's a little more familiar with. _Rukio sighed and closed his violet eyes. "You're going to need to learn it eventually Ichiko," he told her gently. "But for now, let's just discuss hollow weak-points, alright"

The complete change in Rukio's tone was disarming. Ichiko's anger suddenly seemed petty and pointless. Without meaning to, Ichiko found herself staring at her companion, studying him. He was leaning against a tree, the shadows dappling his pale skin. His normally piercing eyes were shuttered and his sharp, regal features were almost slack, lacking the easy alertness that Ichiko had come to associate with them. _He looks so tired…_

Ichiko opened her mouth, not really sure what she was going to say. It could have been anything from an apology to a declaration of undying love but no one ever found out because Kengyuu Inoue chose that moment to bounce into view from behind the tree Rukio was leaning against and shout "Hi, Kurosaki-chan!" at the top of his lungs.

Ichiko nearly jumped out of her skin. "I-Inoue? W-w-w-w-what are you doing here?!" she stammered, trying desperately to stall as she gathered the shattered pieces of her composure back together. From the other boy's blind spot, Rukio cracked one eye open and directed his dirtiest look at the back of Kengyuu's auburn head.

Unaware that he was interrupting anything, Kengyuu beamed at Ichiko. "I'm doing a little dinner shopping! See, I bought onions and butter, and bananas and gelatin," he told her happily, holding up the shopping bag wrapped around his wrist for Ichiko to inspect the contents. "What are you doing here, Kurosaki-chan?"

Still reeling from Kengyuu unexpected appearance and general destabilizing presence, Ichiko was having trouble coming up with a plausible explanation. Saying that she was trying to learn magic to kill invisible monster wasn't an option despite the fact that Kengyuu probably would have believed it. "Me? I'm uh…" Ichiko stalled, hoping for Kengyuu to change the subject or get distracted by something.

True to form, it was at that moment that Kengyuu felt eyes drilling into the back of his head. He spun around to face Rukio who was still glaring at him from against the tree. "Kuchiki-san?" Kengyuu exclaimed, surprise at seeing the new student evident in his voice. _What's he doing with Kurosaki-chan, _Kengyuu's suspicious were suddenly aroused. _He must be stalking her! Wait… only mad scientist have purple eyes! He's planning to harvest her organs to make an army of super soldiers! _Kengyuu realized. _I have to act natural so he doesn't know I've figured out his evil plan…_ Kengyuu plastered on his best fake smile. It made his mouth hurt but to protect Ichiko, Kengyuu would endure anything.

"Who the hell are you and what's wrong with your face?"

Ichiko rolled her eyes. Kengyuu was being weird and Rukio was being a prick. What was new? "This is Inoue," Ichiko explained, interjecting before Kengyuu's face split in half or Rukio punched him. "He's in our class, remember."

"It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance, Rukio Kuchiki," Kengyuu enunciated every word unnecessarily, pausing between each one for added emphasis. _Perfect! He has no idea I'm on to him! _Kengyuu congratulated himself smugly.

"Yeah…" Rukio drawled. He shot Ichiko an exasperated look, silently pleading for help dealing with Kengyuu particular brand of insanity. Ichiko just shrugged obviously just as confused by the signals the auburn-haired boy was sending out as he was. _Human… _Rukio thought despairingly. "It is a pleasure to make yours… too?" Rukio mimicked Kengyuu's cadence and emphasis exactly, unable to think of any other way to respond. It seemed to be the proper thing to do because the other boy's lunatic imitation of a smile dissolved into a look of surprise then reformed into a genuinely friendly grin.

_Mad scientists can't be this friendly, _Kengyuu reasoned. _Maybe I was wrong about him and Ichiko is just showing him around the town or something. She's nice that way. _Thinking about Ichiko made him grin. _Any friend of hers can't be that bad, I suppose._

_Great now they're both acting weird… better change the subject before they get to me too. _Ichiko glanced around, looking for something to distract them with. Her chocolate gaze settled on the bandage wrapped around Kengyuu's toned forearm. The gauze started at his elbow, extended all the way up to his shoulder and disappeared inside his pale red tank-top. "What happened to your arm, Inoue? Did you fall down or something?" Ichiko asked with genuine concern.

Kengyuu made a quick circle with his injured shoulder as if testing that it still worked and gave Ichiko a rueful smile. "I got hit!" he stated proudly.

"Hit?! Like, by a car?!" Ichiko exclaimed. _Only Kengyuu would ever be proud of that…_

"Yup!" Kengyuu's grin spread wider. All of Ichiko's attention was making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Affected by his crush's concern, Kengyuu began to babble, "I was running home from work last night and it was really late and I was singing and looking for Chad 'cause I was scared that he'd get bitten by a werewolf! And then I ran into the street and there was a car coming and BAM!" Kengyuu paused as if considering something then chuckled a little bit. "I've been getting hit a lot lately!" he informed Ichiko in a tone that made the girl want to press her face firmly into her palm.

"And… you're laughing about this?" Ichiko asked, trying to keep the concern for Kengyuu's sanity out of her voice. "Have been to see a doctor or anything? My family runs a clinic just up the street, I could take you there. Although I'm not sure if Goat-Chin actually has a medical license…"

Kengyuu waived off Ichiko's offer of assistance, "I'm fine, Kurosaki-chan!" he insisted and flexed to demonstrate exactly how hale and healthy he was. Ichiko rolled her eyes; trying to ignore the part of her brain which was completed fixated by the way Kengyuu's arm bulged under the bandage. "It's not like they meant to hit me!" Kengyuu continued happily, "I _did _kinda run out into the middle of street. Besides, Chad has a lot of experience patching me up! This kinda happens a lot…" he admitted, ducking his head but still smiling.

Rukio had been silent up to this point, studying the other boy closely and putting the puzzle pieces together._ Something isn't quite right here… _"How often is a lot, Inoue-san?" he asked, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible.

"Almost every day! I kinda zone out sometimes…"

"Seriously Ken, you might want to do something about that," Ichiko suggested but Kengyuu only chuckled.

"Chad want to be a doctor and I'm helping him practice!"

_Huh… Maybe he's really is just an airhead. But still, something doesn't quite add up. _Rukio narrowed his eyes and examined Kengyuu again. This time, he found what he was looking for. A light colored bruise wrapped around the other boy's left leg in a strange, ragged pattern. _That can't be… _"What's that mark on your leg, Inoue-san?" Rukio asked casually. "Did you get it last night, too?"

As if uncertain, Kengyuu paused before answering, his brow wrinkling slightly, "Yeah, I think so. It was there when I woke up."

"Mind if I take a closer look?" Rukio asked. When Kengyuu nodded his auburn head, Rukio knelt down to examine. _Exactly as I suspected… _To confirm his suspicions, Rukio probed outward for spiritual pressure, thankfully something he could still do without his Shinigami powers albeit weakly. Sure enough, Kengyuu's soul was redolent with Reiryoku. _That makes sense, _Rukio mused grimly, _but what to do about it?_

Some of what Rukio was thinking must have broken through his mask of friendly concern. "What's up with that scary face, Kuchiki-san?" Kengyuu asked sounding as if something about his injuries was finally worrying him.

Quickly recovering his composure, Rukio flashed a smile. "Nothing really. I was just thinking that it looks really painful!" He poked the bruise for good measure. Kengyuu winced and bit back a yelp.

"Nope!" Kengyuu shouted, hoping Ichiko wouldn't notice the bead of sweat that was rolling down his forehead. He hadn't noticed it before for some reason, but his leg hurt like hell! _Don't let Ichiko see you in pain, Kengyuu! Real men do not know the meaning of that word! Chin up, soldier, there's no way you're getting through boot camp like that! Now drop down and give me twenty and if I don't like what I see it's the stockades for you! _Kengyuu shook his head to clear it of the rogue drill sergeant fantasy. "Seriously," he insisted, "it doesn't hurt one bit."

Ichiko, who had watched Rukio's strange behavior closely, was beginning to get worried for the auburn airhead's safety. _Whatever he's planning, Kengyuu's too innocent to get mixed up get in it. _"You're in shock from the pain!" Ichiko gasped, forcing as much concern into her voice as she could muster. "We've got to get you to a doctor immediately! You'd better come home with me right now!"

_K-K-Kurosaki_ _–kun is asking me to come home with her?! _Confusion, joy and panic vied for dominance over Kengyuu's emotions, paralyzing him. _Am I dreaming? _One part of him asked. _This is better than you ever imagined! _Another part insisted. _I'm not ready! I'm not ready! I'm not ready! _The third part of him jibbered. In the end, panic won out. "I HAVE TO GO WATCH TELEVISION WITH CHAD NOW BYE!" Kengyuu shouted at the top of his lungs and dashed off, narrowly avoiding running into the Rukio and the tree.

Ichiko and Rukio both stared after the fleeing boy. After long seconds of silence, Ichiko sighed. She turned to the tall boy and locked his eyes with her steeliest glare. "Whatever you're planning for Inoue, don't. He's got enough on his plate as it is. If you foist this Hollow-Shinigami crap on him or anyone else, you're gonna have to answer to me, you got that?"

With her feet planted firmly and arms crossed defiantly over her chest, Ichiko looked positively fierce. If it wasn't for the fact that she barely came up to his chin, Rukio might have been seriously intimidated by her. Instead, he had to stop himself thinking about how cute Ichiko's scowl made her look. Okay, so maybe he was still a little intimidated, he'd seen what she could do to Hollows after all. "Relax, twerp," Rukio drawled, expertly hiding his thoughts behind a veneer of bored irritation, "I'm not the one who's mixing her up in this 'crap.'"

"Good-" Ichiko began before she realized the implications of Rukio's phrasing. "No! No way does Inoue know anything about spirits or the Soul Society!"

Rukio gave Ichiko a disapproving look. "I'm not saying that he _knows _he's involved. How close are the two of you?"

"Not very, I guess." Ichiko had responded to the question instinctually, she wasn't used to thinking of herself as close to anyone except Tatsuki. But when she actually took a moment to think about it, she realized that Kengyuu was around a lot of the time. He seemed to show up at a lot of her Karate tournaments and he was with Chad whenever she and Tats spent time with the big man. _Come to think of it, we've even eaten lunch together… _Ichiko scratched the back of her head. "Okay, I guess we're kinda close," she admitted. _Is he jealous or something? _Ichiko wondered but quickly dismissed the thought as ridiculous.

"Any family?" Rukio asked pointedly.

The directness of the question dispelled any lingering ideas about Rukio's jealously from Ichiko's head. _Weird, why is that kinda disappointing? _Ichiko decided not to think about it and answer Rukio's question instead. "He had an older sister."

"Had?" Rukio pressed, the expression on his face growing steadily more intense.

Ichiko didn't like where this was going. It wasn't particularly that Ichiko had anything against the tall boy or even that she didn't trust him, just the opposite. However she couldn't deny that since he had appeared in her life, things had gotten significantly more dangerous. Ichiko didn't mind a little danger herself but it was a completely different story when people she cared about came under the line of fire. Ichiko hadn't realized it before but some part of her cared about the flighty auburn-haired boy. It was that part of her that put the scowl back on her face and put the venom in her voice when Ichiko answered Rukio's question. "Yeah, _had_. She died three years ago."

"How?"

"Don't you think that's a little personal?"

"It's important. Tell me."

It went against her gut but logic told Ichiko that Rukio had proved to be mostly reliable so far. _Except maybe about the romance novel thing. _""You didn't hear this from me alright," Ichiko started grumpily. Rukio nodded solemnly, his attention completely focused on her, and Ichiko continued. "I only know what happened 'cause I was the one who opened the door. It happened as I was about to leave for school. The clinic wasn't open yet but someone was pounding on the door. I opened it and Kengyuu was there with his sister on his back. He was a pretty big kid, even back then. He was pretty hysterical but he told dad that it was a car accident. God, there was blood _everywhere_." Ichiko paused and shuddered, the memory obviously still disturbing after all the years. "There wasn't anything we could do with our equipment… sh-she died before the ambulance could come and take him to a big hospital." When Ichiko finished the story, she was staring at her feet with her eyes squeezed shut.

"…That's it?" Rukio asked, seeming bored by the story.

"THAT'S IT?! I tell you he dragged his big sister out of a car wreck and carried her to our clinic and all you say is 'that's it?!' What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you ask in the first place if you care so little, you heartless bastard?"

"I had a suspicion but your story proved it wrong," Rukio responded, his expression as blank as his voice. However Ichiko's tirade must have had some effect on him because he continued, "Mortals have a different view of death than Shinigami. It may seem heartless to you but you're going to have to learn to deal with it. After all, you're one of us now. Anyways, training is over for today. Let's go home."

Ichiko snorted, still annoyed with the tall boy but no longer furious. "You may be done with training for today but I'm sure as hell not. I've still got Karate. Which I'm gonna be late for because of you. Prick."

Not deigning to respond, Rukio strode away his long legs quickly putting distance between them. As Ichiko watched him leave, she couldn't help but wonder where he was going. _What idiot is he freeloading off of?_

* * *

Tatsuki was lounging on the bench in front of their dojo already dressed in sparring gear when Ichiko jogged up. Tatsuki was a head shorter than Ichiko but just as wiry, if not more so. There was something about her best friend that reminded Ichiko of an alley cat. Maybe it was the feline cast to her face and the predatory way she held herself, as if always ready to pounce. Maybe it was the savage, unpredictable glint in her eyes which made it nearly impossible to guess what Tatsuki would do next. Whatever it was, Ichiko loved it. There was nothing about her best friend that Ichiko would have changed.

A wicked grin spread over Ichiko's face, the kind that made sensible people want to run for cover, "Aww, You waited for me, Tats. That's so cute."

A matching leer crept over Tatsuki as she uncoiled from the bench and rolled sinuously to her feet. "You know me, babe, I get lonely when you aren't around to beat up"

"That's so sweet. I'm touched."

"Bitch, I'm gonna do more than touch you…" Tatsuki threatened huskily.

"Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty ," Ichiko rumbled back. The tension between the two of them was skyrocketing. Pedestrians on their side of the street ran through traffic to get away. Simultaneously, as if guided by a signal that was undetectable to everyone else, Ichiko and Tatsuki took a step towards each other and…

A male student stuck his head out of the door of the dojo and shouted, "You two are disgusting, you know that! Anyways, sensei is pissed so you'd better get in here right now!" Just as quickly as the head had appeared it was gone, sucked back inside the low, traditional style building that was completely anachronistic with the modern shops and apartment buildings that dominated this section of town.

Ichiko and Tatsuki exchanged one more heated looked before neither of them could take it anymore. They burst out laughing. Tatsuki grabbed Ichiko shoulder but it was no use, they were both laughing too hard to remain stable. As one, they collapsed onto the bench next to each other and let convulsions pass.

When they were able to form cohesive sentences again, Tatsuki turned to her friend and asked in a normal voice, "Seriously, what gives? You're never late."

Ichiko sighed heavily. "I'll tell ya inside alright? I've been wanting to hit something all day."

Tatsuki grinned wickedly and sprung to her feet. "Trust me, babe, the feeling's mutual." Tatsuki offered her hand to Ichiko and the orange-haired girl used it to pull herself up. Together, they double-timed it into the dojo.

* * *

Ichiko blocked a vicious kick to her head and retaliated with a flurry of straight punches aimed at her dark-haired friend's torso. Tatsuki parried or blocked each one with lightning speed and pinpoint precision. Back and forth, they traded a series of deadly blows, each one failing to strike anything vital by a hair's breadth. A thin sheen of sweat covered each girl. Most of the students who weren't sparring themselves watched the dojo's two prodigies' bout in awe, barely able to follow the movements that were being made before them. Even the sensei was having trouble making out exactly who was doing what.

Ichiko and Tatsuki were going at about half speed, perfect tempo for a conversation. "Time to spill it, Kurosaki. Why were you late?" Tatsuki asked, slightly out of breath.

"You're not gonna believe me," Ichiko grinned as she evaded her friend's low sweep with ease.

"Try me," Tatsuki continued the motion of her sweep, shifting with murderous grace to turn it into a roundhouse kick aimed at Ichiko's side.

"I was with a man," Ichiko blocked the kick with her elbow and jabbed with the other arm.

Tatsuki snorted with laughter and parried the blow. "You're right, I don't believe it."

Pressing the offensive, Ichiko surged forward. She drove her knee up towards her friend's stomach. "He's new. You might have noticed him. He's really damn tall."

"Rukio?" Tatsuki asked incredulously as she back away from Ichiko attack and brought her arms up in a defensive posture. "You've gotta be kidding me. Honshō wouldn't shut up about him in Math class." Tatsuki blocked Ichiko's flurry of blows before finding an opening and taking the offensive again. "Tall boys, huh? I always wondered what you were into."

Ichiko blocked her friend's attacks with the same effortless fluidity that hers had been dealt with a moment before. "Sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't like that. We were just talking." Ichiko grinned mischievously, "You know I've only got eyes for you, Tats." It was always like this between the two of them. Being around Tatsuki brought out a different side of Ichiko, a side that she liked. With most people, at least living ones, Ichiko didn't like opening herself up. But she had known Tatsuki since before… well, since before things had changed. Ichiko couldn't keep anything from the other girl even if she wanted to.

Tatsuki wasn't like a sister to Ichiko. They were closer than that. When they were together, Ichiko couldn't help but let her friend's reckless energy suffuse her. Around Tatsuki, Ichiko could laugh. That bond was theirs and theirs alone. If things had turned out a little bit differently, they might have been more than friends. But, in this lifetime, that possibility was their private joke instead. Anyone who implied it was more than that got their face broken. Twice.

"Please," Tatsuki snickered, "'just talking' couldn't have kept us apart. I want all the details. Even the nasty ones." Suddenly, Tatsuki whipped her elbow at Ichiko's chin. The taller girl jerked back her head, barely avoiding a dislocated jaw. Tatsuki's vicious grin widened, "Especially the nasty ones."

"Nasty, huh?" Ichiko purred, going back to exchanging with Tatsuki. "Well, at the end, Kengyuu showed up and the three of us… talked… together."

Tatsuki's eyes widened and her form hitched slightly. Ichiko seized the opportunity like a hawk swooping on a mouse. Her arm snaked arm Tatsuki's and she drove a kick into the back of Tatsuki's knee. As Tatsuki began to toppled, Ichiko ducked and spun, using leverage and her friend's momentum to fling Tatsuki over her shoulder and into the mat.

Unfazed by the throw, Tatsuki sprung back to her feet almost instantly. "Inoue was there? What exactly happened?" Tatsuki demanded in rapid succession, the joking tone completely gone.

Ichiko raised an eyebrow at her friend. "I told you. Kuchiki and were talking. Inoue showed up and we talked for a bit. Apparently, Inoue got hit by a car last night and Kuchiki was really interested in his bruises. It was kinda strange." Of course, Ichiko wasn't telling her friend the whole truth but she wasn't lying to her either. Outright lies to Tatsuki were completely out of the question. To distract attention from her half-truths Ichiko asked, "Why do you care?"

Her eyes must have been deceiving her because Ichiko thought she saw Tatsuki blush. That never happened. The distraction seemed to have worked because Tatsuki snapped, "No reason. Anyways, lets go again. For real this time."

Ichiko grinned and nodded. The two sprung at each other. There would be no room for conversation.

* * *

Yuzu flung at Ichiko's door in a state of flustered panic. "Have you seen my um… diary?!" He called plaintively into the empty room.

Ichiko walked quietly up the stairs behind him, one towel wrapped around her damp body and the other around her equally damp hair. "Hey!" she shouted without really summoning up enough energy to sound angry, "don't go in my room without knocking!"

Yuzu glanced over his shoulder at his sister as she climbed the stairs, leaving little wet footprints in her wake. "But I thought you were in there…" Ichiko blonde little brother protested as if that somehow made his intended intrusion on her privacy better somehow.

Turning around fully, Yuzu processed Ichiko's towels and general state of dampness. "You took a bath" he huffed as angrily as the little boy could manage. "I wanted to go in too!"

Ichiko sighed. As cute as her little brother was, he was going to need to learn to do things by himself one of these days. "You're in 5th grade now, kid," she told him without a trace of sympathy for his plight, "You can't be taking baths with your big sister anymore. In fact, you should probably start instead showering soon. More manly."

Yuzu scowled and stomped his foot. _Okay, now that's a little bit less cute, _Ichiko thought. "Sis," he whined, "you've been so cold ever since you got to high school!"

"Have not." Ichiko swept past her brother and into the open doorway to her room. "I don't know who took your trashy romance novel either, kid. Sorry, I meant diary." With that, she slammed the door in his face.

"They're not trashy!" Yuzu protested loudly from the side of the door.

* * *

For Rukio Kuchiki, places that were comfortable for normal people were cramped and claustrophobic. Being built like an NBA player had many advantages. He had longer reach than most humanoid opponents, his long stride meant he cover the same distance as others with less energy, he could reach high shelves that others found inaccessible. But there were drawbacks as well. The most significant of which was the fact that most building simply weren't built for people his height.

Early in his life, Rukio had had a crushing fear of tight spaces but, when simply living became exposure therapy, his fear quickly disappeared. Nowadays, Rukio did not relish being cooped up but he could do so without breaking out in terror sweat and crying.

This was extremely fortunate because Rukio Kuchiki's makeshift bed of folded hospital sheets was located in closet and not a very big one at that. If the tall boy leaned forward a little bit, his knees nearly touched his chin. Still, it was better than sleeping on the street. Rukio had considered other locations for his headquarters but, in the end, this one was the obvious choice. Given his unique situation, there could have been no safer or more convenient place in all of the Living World.

_Well, except maybe one, _Rukio mused, _but then I'd have to deal with… her… all the time. _The mere thought of her unkempt blonde hair and outdated fashion sense made Rukio cringe. No, that wasn't an option. Not even a little bit.

A beeping from the front pocket of checkered pajamas, discretely nicked from a Big and Tall clothing store that morning, drew Rukio out of his reverie. _An order? _It took a bit of maneuvering but he eventually managed to reach the locator and flip it open. Sure enough the familiar symbols were cascading down the screen, completely unintelligible to the untrained eye. As the details of the order began to make themselves clear from the stream of information, Rukio's eyes widened in surprise. _That can't be right! The location of this order is…_

* * *

Ichiko finished pulling on her pajamas and yawned widely. She felt good. Sparring with Tatsuki was always exhausting and made her sore but, over the years, the ache had been comforting. And there was absolutely nothing like a long hot soak in the tub to swash off the sweat of hard practice before bed. Sure, Ichiko may have dozed off for half an hour during her bath but she'd earned it, damn it. Anyways, she was up now and the strawberry print sheet of her intended sleeping area were calling to her seductively.

Ichiko was halfway under the covers when she heard it: a frantic beeping from everywhere at once. "What the hell," Ichiko muttered, her mind already half asleep and having trouble making logical inferences. "Are Karin and Goat-Chin playin' video games again? At this hour?" Drowsiness made her words slow and slurred. Ichiko was on the verge of getting up and shouting at her idiot family when the source of the noise swam up through the murky swamp that blanketed her thoughts and into her consciousness. _It's coming from inside the walls…_

Even if Ichiko had been about to act on the revelation, which was doubtful at best, the beeping stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Satisfied that someone else had resolved the problem, Ichiko started back towards her bed groggily.

With a bang Ichiko's closet door smashed open. Like a clown emerging from a comically small car in a particularly violent and energetic manner, Rukio Kuchiki unfolded himself the wall space, shouting her name at the top of his lungs. The tall boy's sudden and improbably appearance was _way _too much for her overtaxed brain to process. Ichiko just shouted incoherently.

"Gather your senses, Kurosaki," Rukio commanded, "We've got an order!"

"Y-y-y-y-you!" Ichiko stammered trying to obey his first instruction but still unable to deal with the second piece of information, "H-h-how long have you been in there?!" Ichiko looked down at herself and realized what she was wearing. More specifically, Ichiko became acutely aware of how she had come to be wearing it. "I WAS JUST NAKED!"

"No time to discuss that now! We've got an order!"

"Order?!" Ichiko was confused for a moment but the fog of sleep was steadily being burned from her mind. "Wait! You mean a hollow is about to appear?! When?! Where?!"

Seemingly from nowhere, Rukio produced the red and black glove Ichiko vaguely remembered from under the bleacher and yanked it over his right hand. As Rukio rushed forward, he shouted the answers to Ichiko's questions. "Here! Now!" Before Ichiko could react, his gloved hand was against her face then pushing through it. The feeling of ripping shuddered through her body and she watched as her corporeal form fell bonelessly to the floor of her bedroom.

Just above Ichiko's bed, the air pinched strangely. Space distorted itself, weirdly twisting Ichiko's view of the shapes behind it. Then the contortion tore open, briefly revealing yawning blackness lurking beneath the thin veil of reality. A claw exploded from the ragged hole. It was massive and sickly green in color, great bird-like talons tipped each of the five enormous digits.

The rest of the thing followed the hand. It surged into reality like a criminal breaking down their victim's door in the night. The rest of its body was as proportional to the gigantic hand and the hole in thin air cracked and expanded to allow the hollow through. Its basic shape was human but stretched and distended. Like all hollows, a sickeningly white mask covered its face. This one's was like a human skull that had been bleached and somehow ground into a series of flat planes.

Ichiko was momentarily stunned. The thing was only halfway out of the rabbit-hole and already it took up most of the space in her room. Rukio, on the other hand, was perfectly conscious. "Aim for the head!" he shouted.

His words jarred Ichiko loose. The last dregs of exhaustion had drained from her, leaving only adrenaline. Ichiko's wakizashi was in her hand quicker than thought. With inhuman speed, the orange haired girl, now dressed in her jet-black shinigami regalia, struck. Her blade lashed through the air. The hollow must have been expecting it though because the creature whipped its head back with speed that seemed impossible for its size. Still it wasn't fast enough and the last third of Ichiko blade sliced through the bone-like mask but failed to connect with the flesh beneath.

The hollow reared back and roared in pain. As quickly as it had emerged from the hole, the thing surged back into it. It happened fast but not fast enough for Ichiko to catch a glimpse of what lay beneath the mask. What she saw there was the last thing she had expected to see. It paralyzed her.

The hole sealed itself fully, leaving Ichiko's spirit alone in the room with Rukio. The tall boy still looked tensed for a fight. "He got away," Rukio murmured, although his posture indicated he didn't quite trust his own words. As second ticked on and no attack came, Rukio's wariness dissipated and turned into urgency. After ten seconds had passed Rukio was sure that the hollow had gone. That was definitely not a good thing. "Come on!" he shouted to Ichiko, "We're going after it!"

"Wait…" Ichiko's voice was uncharacteristically small and hesitant. "What's going on Rukio? That-that thing had- it had Inoue big sister's face."

**End of Chapter 3**

**Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo! What do you think?! Its 4:00 AM here and I can't write anymore! My flight back home leaves at 11:30 and I vowed to get something done before I have to leave. I really sympathized with Ichiko during the scene where she trying to get to bed because that's how I'm feeling right now :D Well, except for the part where I'm not sleeping tonight because I still have to finish packing and look up the bus route to the airport, lol. Anywho! I always talk a little about my personal life in these segments… what do you all think about that? Necessary? Unnecessary? Interesting? Uninteresting? I'd really like to know! Maybe I should start a blog but I don't think I'd know what to write about most of the time!**

**So! Big things this chapter! I want all your opinions on them! Ichiko and Tatsuki have a VERY different relationship than they do in the canon story. Personally, I like them this way. There are a couple of reasons why I had their friendship be the way it is but I'd prefer to explain them through the story rather than here or in a shout-out. The other big thing is my explanation of Kido. We haven't really been given any hint as to how it works yet from the manga so I just made something up. I drew a little bit of inspiration from the Dresden Files' view of magic but I tried to make it as Bleachy as possible. Kido is gonna end up being a big part of Ichiko's skill set later on so I want to set up how it's used now to be able to explore it later. If you hadn't noticed, I really like description. **

**More things! This chapter is the first one that has been written this year! Exciting stuff. As the author, I'm too close to really be able to tell the differences between my new and old style. Tell me, plz! Better? Worse? About the same? **

**One more thing before I go. I want to include a short list of things I'm looking forward to in the future of this FanFiction. Partially this is to tantalize anyone who is reading and partially it's to motivate me to write in a timely manner! Here goes!**

**#1: F!Shirosaki: OMG guys and gals, this is a big one for me. I have some scenes in my head already and trust me when I say that Byakuya is NOT going to know what hit him. Also, she'd going to be an absolute psycho! I love her so much!**

**#2: Kengyuu's and Tatsuki's Fullbrings: I'm not going to reveal anything specific here but let me just say that I plan for Ichiko's friends to be WAY more badass in my story than they were in the manga. If your curious, I do name Kengyuu's in one of my shout-outs. **

**#3: The Urahara Shoten Gang: Who is GB and who isn't? We'll just have to find out, won't we! M!Yoruichi? Yum! F!Tessai? OHGODKEEPITAWAY!**

**That's all for now, special frienships! Please show me your love and comment! I may not deserve it but it keeps me going!**

**Long Overdue Call-outs**

**Curttsies:** **What's the fun in writing a carbon copy? I like this way much better: D I'm not sure if I'd call my IchiRuki moments exactly subtle, lol! Ichiko would absolutely **_**have **_**to be a tsunadere! We can't give Rukio the wrong idea, now can we?**

**the romantic insanity: The first was meant to stand completely alone and I think that helped it be what it was. Maybe if I write every chapter like that I can keep the standard up… something to think about I suppose. Inoue is killing me! But I'm glad someone likes him! F!Mizirue was really fun to write. She's going to be a ball of fun (and MUCH more evil than the original mwahahaha!).**

**Selyra: While Nejibana is undoubtedly an awesome and mostly unexplored weapon, my plans for Ichiko or different. As are my plans or Kengyuu. I agree that Orihime got a little snubbed in the usefulness department so Kengyuu's Nana Yosei Yari will hopefully be awesome! In the rewrite, I've given hints as to what Ichiko's powers are but you'll see the full extent soon enough (hopefully)…**

**Grammar: the bane of all writers, lol. Or maybe that's just me. Anyways, I tried to clean it up a little. Perfect! Don't say that! It'll get to my head! I'll try my hardest to keep the quirkiness going!**

**SrgntDrew: Have more you shall!**

**EmpressMina: Sadly, there may not be any. Call me a prude but lemons just aren't my thing. In my opinion, I can't do justice to sex in writing. Well, casual sex would be fairly easy to write but when/if Ichiko and Rukio decide to get down to business, it's going to be anything but casual and explicitly describing that almost seems like an intrusion of privacy to me. No disrespect to anyone who writes lemons, I just choose not to.**

**Baylee1100: Hopefully!**

**Kagehime-sama53: I'm getting the impression that a lot of people have been looking for an AU GB that isn't harem or god-like. Something that keeps the core essence of Bleach but changes the details. I know I was when I started writing this and still am now.**

**deepstairs: Aaah! Update now! (At the time of writing this call-out I have not finished writing the chapter. However, because of how time and limited perception works, this does not matter)**

**That Punk Rock Chick: Thanks!**

**FraulineTraumer: I could not agree more! Also, glad that you like it!**

**NamikazeMia: I just finished my updates for chapter 1 & 2 today actually and I'm seriously considering spending all night writing chapter 3! 24oz Monster here I come! In short, yes. Update soon.**

**Turney out!**


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